Dustformers: Season 2
by Centurion Maximo
Summary: Two months have passed and things have changed. The Atlesian Military have made advances in a new project, the grief of a certain death is still having an impact on the good guys, and the Decepticons are expanding their forces. The Autobots will have to pull it together if they'll continue defending Remnant. (Modern High School AU) (Will not have any Bayverse whatsoever.)
1. A Knight's Grief

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome to **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. People have wanted Dustformers to continue and I'm giving you the second season of this story. Now, this season takes place not long after the ending of Season 1. As expected, morale is not very high in the Autobots or the kids, especially with Jaune, Ratchet, and Snipewing. How will the two move on? We'll have to read and find out in **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. **

**Adding to that, Atlas is not only preparing more so but General Ironwood has some hidden blueprints in his office. The Decepticons have found their ship: The **_**Nemesis**_**. **_**The **_**most powerful Decepticon ship ever built. This ship will serve as their main base of operations.**

**I wonder what ideas people (Including myself) will have for this second season. I'd like to hear your ideas for Dustformers Season 2 as I couldn't get far in the previous season without the contribution of fellow readers/writers. I hope to have continued support throughout Season 2 of this story.**

**A small reminder that if anyone has any ideas for **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**, whether they be OCs, story ideas, etc, please let me know in the comments/reviews or personally PM me. I'd really appreciate it.**

* * *

_*Vale. Vale City. Arc Residence. 20:56 pm*_

Two months had passed since the Decepticons fought the Autobots on Vale's beachfront. The battle was won and disaster was averted, but not without a price. The Autobot Bumblebee was killed in action, sending great sadness to everyone. The ones hit hardest by his passing were Jaune Arc and the Autobots Snipewing and Ratchet.

In the midst of the battle, Jaune unleashed a new power, bringing out a Tramstector named Arcknight and succeeded in killing the Decepticon Crossvolt. Adding to the good news, the Autobots had managed to bring down the Decepticon Cruiser, sending it crashing into the Southern Valean Ocean.

However, the Atlesian Military had sent forces in and they were mostly wiped out. General Ironwood was obviously somber and very frustrated at the same time. He felt that the Atlas Military needed to step up their game. This upset Weiss quite a bit since her sister was in the said military.

So, things weren't great for the Autobots and kids. Jaune was writing in his journal of everything that had happened since he and the others became involved in the Transformers war. He had his scroll on the small desk he was writing on just in case the others called to check on him. He hid his sadness well in school. His grades were going up as a result of his newfound dedication, but his friends knew this was just a front for his pain. A few weeks after the big battle, his friends wanted to help but gave him space. He was becoming distant, not really talking to anyone unless it was absolutely necessary.

Snipewing wasn't faring much better. As a means to honor the Autobot scout, she added black stripes to her patches of yellow. She was going out early every morning and practicing strategic flight patterns, but not much else.

Ratchet was worse off as he'd basically locked himself in his quarters, not coming out for anything except Energon. He couldn't even be annoyed or goaded out of his quarters by Zig and Zag.

Jaune's thoughts were interrupted by a small knock on his door. "Jaune? It's me." Violet said quietly.

He put on a soft but genuine smile. "Come in, Violet," Jaune answered.

Violet just did that and sat on his bed beside him. "You doing ok?" She asked.

Jaune merely sighed. "I'm not doing that great."

Violet frowned. "You still having nightmares?"

"How can I not? It was only two months ago." Jaune grumbled.

"I know. I also found out that you haven't been talking to your friends." Violet said.

"They won't understand." Jaune hung his head.

"It doesn't matter if they understand or not. What does matter is that they're here for you and are more than willing to help you." Violet reminded. "Otherwise, have you tried to find a therapist?"

That caused Jaune to chuckle softly. "I don't really think that going to a therapist would really help after what we've been through ever since that day."

"Well, you weren't kidnapped by Roman Torchwick and a Decepticon gang." Violet rolled her eyes. "I just think that talking to your friends or even a couple of the Autobots, it would help your psyche. With how depressed you've been for two months, I'm surprised the rest of the family hasn't found out what I found out."

"That's a relief at least." Jaune sighed. "Who knows what would happen if they found out, or if any of our families found out what we're involved in."

"It wouldn't be very good, I'm sure of that." Violet added.

_*Vale. Vale City. Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen Residence. 4:19 am*_

It was a bleak, dark Yang woke up a little earlier than usual. She stretched out her arms and legs and looked around to see Ruby wasn't there. Walking out the room, she saw a dim living room light on. A minute later, she saw Ruby sitting on the couch. "Ruby. You okay?" She asked.

"I'm okay, Yang," Ruby replied. "I'm just worried about Jaune."

"We all are," Yang added. "He's been closing himself off. Sure, his grades are going up and whenever we call Violet, she says he's outside training with his weapon or reading. I think he even lashed out at a couple of people in school. Sure, it was a couple of bullies but still…"

"Bumblebee's death is eating away at him." Ruby groaned.

"Well, I'd imagine any of us would be in the same state if it happened to our Autobot guardians/friends." Yang guessed as she sat down beside her sister.

"I just want to help him get better." Ruby sniffled

"Same here, Rubes but I don't think we can do much," Yang said with sadness in her voice. "All we can do really right now is wait and be there for him whether he likes it or not." Ruby sighed and leaned her head against Yang's shoulder.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Project: Cyber-Warrior Room. 7:16 am* _

General Ironwood and General Faust were in the large room that was housing their biggest project. In the past two months, the Atlas Military had actually made long strides with Project: Cyber Warrior. "I must say, I'm impressed with the advances we've made." General Faust smiled.

"Considering there were multiple of those robots lying dead on Vale's Beachfront, I'd call the advances on this project sheer dumb luck." General Ironwood sighed.

"Nevertheless, you should be proud of what we've made. After weeks of sketching, planning out, and building, our very first robot is ready for use." General Faust grinned. "Thanks to a very specific part of its body, the robot has scanned a jet from our database. All it needs is a human or faunus pilot to operate it."

"Indeed. We'll have to start testing our soldiers next to immediately." General Ironwood added. "Another matter is to give it a designation or name. Do you have any ideas, General Faust?"

General Faust put her hand to her chin in a thinking position. "I was thinking of… Iron Phantom." She suggested.

"Hhhmmm… I like it." General Ironwood grinned.

_*Vale. Vale City. Beacon High. 11:23 am*_

It was almost midday, so it was basically lunch. The others had joined up except Jaune. However, Nora spotted Jaune walking slowly towards the back of the large room and made sure she matched pace with the blonde knight. "Hey, Jauney." She said softly.

Jaune looked behind him to see Nora. "Hey, Nora." He responded just as softly.

"You uh… want to sit with us today?" Nora asked with big turquoise eyes.

Jaune thought about it for a couple of minutes. Part of him wanted to continue the routine of remaining obscure, not talking to anyone but the other part of him had Violet's words sinking in, so he made a decision. "Sure, Nora. I'll sit with you guys this time."

"Great!" Nora lightly cheered as she brought him to their table. Once he sat down, he saw the others looking at him with varied expressions.

"Look, I know I'm not doing the best still." Jaune sighed.

"_That's the truth." _They all thought.

"Violet actually talked to me about it last night." Jaune continued. "I want to talk to all of you about this, but at the same time, I want to be left alone."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Jaune." Blake voiced. "I know it's painful losing a close friend, but I think being left alone after that has happened will only lead to nothing but anger and despair."

"Wow, Blake. That was somewhat actually poetic." Weiss smiled while Blake pouted at the heiress.

"The point we're trying to make, Jaune is that we're all really worried about you." Pyrrha bluntly stated. "We want to try and help you but since you've been by yourself for a while, we haven't been able to."

Pyrrha's words touched Jaune. They were that worried about him? Even though they were indeed his friends, he didn't expect them to care that greatly. These seven have once again proven that they are his very best friends. From when they were a lot younger, they helped him out when he was being bullied. Jaune actually started tearing up. "T-Thanks, guys."

"It's no problem, Jaune." Ren smiled lightly.

"Is that you, Jaune?" A voice asked. Jaune looked to see it was one of his classmates: Tammy Goldberg.

"Hey, Tammy," Jaune said. "What brings you here?"

"You've been looking down for the last couple of months, so I baked you some muffins to hopefully cheer you up." Tammy smiled as she held out a small box towards the blonde knight. When Jaune thanked Tammy and took it, his nose was enraptured by a sweet aroma of banana and chocolate.

"Wow. These smell really good. Thank you, Tammy." Jaune smiled.

"Anytime, Jaune." Tammy giggled with a red hue on her cheeks. The rest of the group were smiling at Tammy's kindness. Jaune needed support right now as this was a hard time for him. "So, Jaune. I was wondering if you'd maybe want to hang out with me tomorrow since it's a half-day."

"I-I don't know, Tammy." Jaune debated.

"Please. It'll be fun."Tammy insisted.

Jaune sighed for the fifth time today. "Is that okay with you guys?"

"I don't see why not. Oum knows you've locked yourself in your room every day for the past two months." Weiss rolled her eyes.

"I agree. You need some air, Jauney." Nora smiled.

"You should have some fun." Yang grinned.

"Alright, Tammy. I'll see you tomorrow after school." Jaune said.

"Splendid!" Tammy squealed. "Let's meet up at the mall."

"Cool." Jaune smiled lightly. With that, Tammy walked off. Jaune was in a slightly better mood, but who knew how long it would last. "Thank you, everyone, for being there for me. It really means a lot to me."

"It's nothing, Jaune." Pyrrha smiled. Jaune then got up and walked off. The seven were glad they were able to cheer him up, even if it was a little. However, Pyrrha had a slight pain in her heart.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. Just Outside The Nemesis. Shockwave. 14:27 pm*_

Shockwave had found his fellow Decepticons after two months of being unable to do so. He found a hatch, put in a Decepticon code, and the hatch opened up, allowing him to enter the ship.

Inside the ship on the other side of the hatch, Megatron and the others were waiting to greet their newest comrade. "I wonder who it'll be." Maul tilted his head.

"It has to be another Seeker. We're the best of the best the Decepticons have to offer." Starscream boasted, causing others to roll their optics.

"Once again, you show your apparent lack of intelligence, Starscream." Shockwave said in his monotone, making the others widen their optics as they instantly recognized who it was.

"It can't be!" Starscream whimpered. "He's here?!" Shockwave appeared through the hatch.

"Shockwave." Megatron grinned. "Just the advantage we need to defeat the Autobots."

"I'm pleased to be back in your service, Lord Megatron." Shockwave bowed as he looked around with his singular eye, creeping the other Decepticons out. To them, it felt like he was staring straight into their sparks, except for Hypnotica who was glaring at him with nothing but pure anger. "Ah. One of my previous test subjects. I see you've survived all these stellar cycles."

"As have you." Hypnotica sneered. "I was hoping to never see you again."

"Hypnotica…" Abysswing whispered putting a hand on his sparkmate's shoulder, calming her down as she was still staring at the Deception scientist. She touched her sparkmate's hand with her own.

"I cannot compute what he sees in you. It must be something though." Shockwave stated bluntly.

"There is a laboratory, ready for your use, Shockwave." Soundwave informed.

"Excellent. This means I can instantly continue on my various projects." Shockwave's eye seemed to shine brighter.

"Proceed then, Shockwave." Megatron ordered. "I eagerly await what you come up with."

"Yes, Lord Megatron." Shockwave acknowledged as he walked off.

Once he left the vicinity, Hypnotica calmed down fully. "Thank the pit he's gone for now. Thanks, Abysswing."

"No problem, Hypnotica." Abysswing smiled.

"I wonder what the mad scientist will conjure up first." Skywarp openly pondered.

_*Vale. Vale City. Ruby & Hightrail. 18:23 pm*_

"How is Jaune doing, Ruby?" Hightrail asked.

"We managed to cheer him up a little today which is good." Ruby informed.

Hightrail smiled a little at hearing that. "That's good. I get sad whenever I think about Bumblebee."

"Me too, Hightrail. That's why Jaune needs our support." Ruby repeated.

"Yes. From what I've learned since coming to Remnant, whenever someone is sad, they should rely on their friends to help them get through their hard times." Hightrail voiced.

"Exactly. I'm also worried about the Atlas Military." Ruby brought up.

"Have you discovered anything new with them?" Hightrail asked.

"Well, I did stumble upon a Project: Cyber Warrior. I don't know what it is yet, but I intend to find out." Ruby said with determinedly.

_*Vale. Vale City. Vale City Grand Mall. Jaune Arc & Tammy Goldberg. 12:12 pm*_

It was a bright, sunny day while Jaune and Tammy were hanging out. They met up at 8:15 in the morning, so they had already spent a few hours together. This made Jaune feel a little better than how he was usually feeling for the past two months. They were just grabbing a bite after walking around for a bit. "So Jaune, what do you think of the theory that's going around?" Tammy asked, curious at what Jaune's response would be.

"What theory?" Jaune raised an eyebrow.

"The one that's saying there are alien robots among us that can change their forms to blend in." Tammy smiled.

Jaune went wide-eyed. How did Tammy find out about the Transformers? He'd have to be careful with his answers. "I may have stumbled upon it. I find it interesting but at the same time, somewhat unrealistic."

"I admit, it does sound a little far-fetched but there is also the possibility that it could be true." Tammy reasoned.

"Agreed. However, what if these beings, if they are real, what if they are dangerous?" Jaune asked.

"Then we'll have to keep our distance from them." Tammy responded.

Hearing this brought back the same memory for Jaune. "Well, I'm gonna get going. I did enjoy hanging out with you today, don't worry about that." He smiled at the girl.

Tammy smiled and blushed at that. "I'm glad I was able to bring you out of your funk, even it was for a little bit." Before she left, she gave Jaune a peck on the cheek and then walked off with a bigger smile on her face.

Jaune's mind temporarily shut down after Tammy kissed him on the cheek. _"This has never happened to me before." _He thought. A minute later, he began walking back to his home with his head hung low and tears starting to stream down his face, unknown that the Atlas Military was watching him from a distance.

_*Vale. Vale Forest. The Ark. 15:09 pm*_

Morale wasn't really great at the Ark right now as most Autobots only came out when they had to. Ratchet had completely locked himself in his quarters, not coming out for anything. Snipewing was sitting on a tree stump. She had black stripes on her yellow patches as her way to honor Bumblebee. "How are you holding up, Snipewing?" Optimus asked walking over to her.

"I think you know the answer to that, Optimus." Snipewing said softly not even turning to look at him.

"Please don't get me wrong. Bumblebee's death weighs very heavily on me." Optimus breathed. "However, we should honor him by continuing to fight the Decepticons."

Snipewing sighed. "Optimus, we can't beat the Decepticons. The only reason Crossvolt's dead is thanks to Jaune, nothing more."

"I see Bumblebee's death is weighing heavier on you than the others." Optimus whispered. "You cared about him more than a friend, didn't you?"

This time, Snipewing turned around to face the Autobot leader. "H-How did you...?"

"I figured with how much time you and him spent together." Optimus said. "I know I would be the exact same way as you if I ever truly lost Elita."

"T-Thanks for understanding, Optimus but if you please, I'd like to be alone right now." Snipewing sniffled.

"Of course." Optimus whispered as he walked back into the Ark. Once he was out of earshot, Snipewing broke down into tears, holding her head in her hands.

_*Vale. Vale City. Arc Residence. 17:43 pm*_

Jaune got back to his home a few hours ago and his family knew he was somber, but he always avoided answering specifically why he was like this. The best they could do right now was comfort him. Jaune was sitting in the backyard merely looking out into the distance. He didn't notice Roslyn sit beside him. "Hey, little bro."

"Oh. Hey, Roslyn." Jaune said quietly.

"Heard from Gloria that you hung out with a new friend today." Roslyn brought up, hoping to avoid a potentially bad subject.

"Yes, I did actually. Her name is Tammy Goldberg." Jaune said with a hint of monotone.

"I see. Well, I'm glad you're starting to hang out with people again." Roslyn smiled softly.

"Thanks, sis." Jaune smiled back as he hugged Roslyn out of nowhere. Roslyn was surprised at first, but quickly hugged him back.

_*Anima. 21:31 pm*_

It was raining quite heavily in Anima. A small family was enjoying their dinner and making small talk when they heard something large crash into their barn. "Goddammit." The man said. "I'll check it out."

"Be careful, dear." The woman advised.

The man walked out of his house to see the barn in flames despite the heavy rain. He slowly walked closer and closer to the barn. When he got close enough, he saw a large object lodged into the ground. "What the hell is this?" He asked out loud very quietly. He suddenly heard something move. He quickly grabbed a pitchfork just in case. He attempted to throw something at the object which caused something to move inside. The man moved backwards from the object. Within minutes though, what looked like legs crawled out of the object. Before the man could react with the pitchfork, something burst out with a screech leaping at the doomed man who could do nothing but scream. What had just arrived on Remnant?

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hope people like the very first chapter/episode of **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. So like it said, two months have passed since the season 1 finale. Jaune has been closing himself off from his friends who want so badly to help him out of his funk. At lunch in school, they do manage to cheer him up a little by showing they care about him greatly. We also see a character from season 1: Tammy Goldberg who gives Jaune muffins as an attempt to cheer him up which somewhat works and she blushed when he complimented her baking. Tammy Goldberg has a crush on Jaune. Adding to this, Pyrrha Nikos has her very first feelings of jealousy. Now, I know some of you wanted some action in this chapter/episode, but this is supposed to be a decompression from the season 1 finale.**

**With the Autobots, Snipewing has added black stripes to her yellow patches to honor her friend while Ratchet has just locked himself in his quarters and refuses to come out.**

**The Atlas Military has completed its very first prototype man-made Transformer in the form of Iron Phantom. All they need is for a soldier to operate the robot. Who will they pick? Not only that, but the Atlas Military has managed to reverse-engineer the scanner of the Vehicon they acquired back in season 1 to suit their needs in tracking down Cybertronians. Now, some of you are probably thinking: How the hell did the Atlesian Military pop out a robot like that in just two months? You'd be surprised at the Atlesian Military's efficiency in this story.**

**With the Decepticons, Shockwave has officially joined up with Megatron and his Decepticons, causing great anger in Hypnotica specifically. Luckily for her, she has her sparkmate: The Grimmcon Abysswing to help her. Who knows what horrors Shockwave will cook up first.**

**Adding to this list, another meteor has crashed in a barn all the way out in Anima that is very near a tiny town that fits into one of my ideas for the second season. You'll just have to wait and see what that idea is.**

**As usual, if anyone has any ideas for **_**Dustformers: Season 2,**_** please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.**

**Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!**


	2. Insecticon Swarm Part 1

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. At the end of the last chapter/episode, something that emerged from inside a crashed meteor attacked a small family in a farmhouse and barn just outside a tiny town in Anima. What could it possibly be? This is one of my ideas for season 2 coming to light.**

**In Atlas, the very first robot of Project: Cyber Warrior has been completed with the name Iron Phantom. All it needs is a soldier to operate it. If you have any ideas for Iron Phantom, please let me know in the comments/reviews or personally PM me about it. Not to mention that the Atlas Military has been in Vale still, discreetly monitoring the eight kids.**

**How will the Autobots deal with all of this while continuing to cope with Bumblebee's death? We'll just have to read and find out.**

**Now, let's dive headfirst into the **_**Insecticon Swarm Part 1**_**!**

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_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Junior Lieutenant Cryos's Quarters. 8:10 am*_

Wilma Cryos was sitting in her quarters, thinking how quiet it was since there wasn't any activity from the alien robots for two months. Still, she wanted to keep vigilant in case something similar to what happened at Vale's Beachfront happened again. Who knew if something else would happen. While she approved of Project: Cyber Warrior, agreeing that it was needed if those robots ever attacked again.

However, at the same time, she was wondering whether or not all of the robots were bad. From what the recordings she recovered showed, it looked like some of the robots were fighting to protect Remnant. At this point in time, she was torn between wanting to find out which robots were friend and foe and destroying them all indiscriminately.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Private Lodestone's Quarters. 8:40 am*_

Private Frederick Lodestone was currently writing down things in his notebook as he wanted to contribute to Project: Cyber Warrior very badly. Though, he kept it in his head that he might not get the chance even though he already contributed by finding and retrieving the robot corpse that started the whole project.

He did overhear some conversations of his comrades talking about how Private Lodestone was too inept to actually be recognized for something. He growled slightly at remembering overhearing those conversations. Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. He went to answer it. When he saw it was, General Ironwood, he immediately saluted. "Sir!"

General Ironwood chuckled. "At ease, Private Lodestone."

The private did just that now knowing he wasn't in trouble. "May I ask why you are at my quarters, sir?"

"I am here to see you regarding Project: Cyber Warrior." General Ironwood responded which made Private Lodestone's face light up.

"Are you serious, sir?!"

"Clearly, I am. As you know, we have been testing many people in the Atlas Military in hopes of finding someone to operate Designate: Iron Phantom."

"Yes, sir."

"We still haven't found the right candidate, though. I was hoping you would like a try in operating our prototype."

Private Lodestone's mind was lit up? General Ironwood himself was asking him to try out Iron Phantom? This was a chance and he wouldn't squander it! "Of course, sir! I'll do it!"

"Right this way, then." Private Lodestone followed General Ironwood out of his quarters.

_*Vale. Vale City. Schnee Residence. 9:23 am*_

Weiss had just finished conversing with her mother about dust. Soon after, Ruby came over to hang out with her for a bit. That wasn't all Weiss wanted Ruby at her home for. She wanted to know what the Atlesian Military was up to for the past two months.

Soon, the two went into Weiss's room. "Ready, Ruby?"

"Always, Weiss." Ruby smiled.

Hopping onto Weiss's computer, she put in an anti-tracker that Wheeljack gave her a few days after the Vale Beachfront battle. Then she hopped onto the Atlesian Military network. "See anything yet, Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"Nothing yet, but I'm sure I'll find something in here," Ruby assured. She continued working her way around the network until Weiss spotted a file.

"Wait! What's that?" Weiss asked.

"What is it?" Ruby asked back.

"I just saw a file named Project: Cyber Warrior just a second ago," Weiss said.

"Project: Cyber Warrior, huh?" Ruby was getting curious. "Let's check it out." With that, Ruby and Weiss dove into the file. When they saw the file's contents, they saw photos of the Iron Phantom robot. Both of them were wide-eyed at what they were seeing. "I don't believe it."

"I never realized Atlas was this far in this new project. It seems they are making their own Transformers!" Weiss quietly exclaimed.

"We have to let the Autobots know of this." Ruby suddenly stated. Weiss agreed and the two got ready to do just that.

A few seconds after they left Weiss's house, Winter was waiting for them. "Sister. Good to see you." She greeted.

"Winter. It's good to see you again and to know you are still doing well," Weiss greeted back. "Now, why are you here?"

"I'm sorry to do this, Weiss, but you and Miss Rose are under arrest by orders of the Atlas Military." Winter sighed.

"What?!" Ruby exclaimed. "What for?! We haven't done anything wrong!"

"Really?" Another soldier that hopped out of a Bullhead questioned. "Then how bout withholding highly valuable information regarding our alien robot visitors, huh?"

Weiss and Ruby were shocked at hearing that. The Atlas Military did know about the Transformers! That was bad on a number of levels! Who knows what more they might do with this information as well as any other Cybertronian knowledge they might've been able to attain. "We've already rounded your friends and their folks. They're sitting tight right in the Bullhead. We would like to avoid a fight, so please come quietly." Winter softly ordered.

Weiss and Ruby saw their friends and their families in the Bullhead and they were just getting Willow, so it looked like they had no choice. They silently walked to the Bullhead and hopped on. Once seated, they had handcuffs slapped on them and they took off.

This gave the families a little time to talk with their kids about what was happening. "Blake, sweetie. What is going on?" Kali asked.

At first, Blake said nothing in response. "Does it have anything to do with those alien robots we've been repeatedly hearing about?" Ghira added. Blake merely nodded.

"What is she talking about, Nora?" Nora's mother, Thora asked softly but sternly.

"I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm sorry I had to keep a secret from you." Nora apologized.

"Jaune, is this why you've been sad for the past two months?" John questioned. Jaune couldn't will himself to look at his family except for Violet.

"Young man, you had better tell us what's going on before we arrive in Atlas," Marian said sternly.

"I knew something was happening," Raven muttered. "And I knew you and Ruby were involved in it, Yang."

"Sorry, Mom." Yang hung her head low.

Raven leaned her head on her daughter's own head. "Oh, Yang. I can tell that this wasn't easy for you or Ruby. I just wish either or both of you told us anything."

"I wholeheartedly agree with Raven," Summer added in. "Little Rose, I'm proud of you for keeping this whole thing a secret for this long and disappointed that you didn't tell us."

"Renny, did you not tell us this for a reason?" Ren's mother, An questioned.

"Yes, mother," Ren answered stoically.

"Pyrrha, why didn't you tell us?" Her father, Hercules asked out of curiosity.

"Believe me, Dad. I really wanted to. However, If I did, you'd be in danger." Pyrrha explained while beginning to tear up.

"Oh, honey. This must be a big secret." Athena said hugging her daughter.

"It is." Jaune suddenly said a little darkly, worrying his family and friends. His friends knew why he was talking with that tone. It was still very clear he wasn't handling it well as they could only pull him out of it for a little bit, and then he'd revert right back to his current state.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Main Airship Hangar. 10:34 am*_

It took a little bit, but the Bullhead had made it back to Atlas. When it landed, General Ironwood and General Faust were waiting for the kids and their families to emerge so that he could start questioning them.

"Seems you brought them here in one piece, Specialist Schnee. I'm surprised." General Faust lightly mocked.

Winter turned to her with a partial glare. "Of course I did, General Faust."

"Well, I hope you all are ready for some questions." General Ironwood said.

"We won't tell you anything," Ren said stoically.

"You'll have to one way or another." General Ironwood started, but before he could say something else, a soldier ran up to him. The soldier had his helmet off. He had black hair, blue eyes, a tiny piece missing from his right ear wearing the standard Atlas Military Private uniform. "Private Bueller. Report."

"Sir! We just received word that a small town in Anima has gone off the radar a couple of days ago. All its inhabitants have just vanished." Private Bueller reported.

"Why was I not informed of this right away?!" General Ironwood shouted.

"The report only came in yesterday, sir!" Private Bueller exclaimed.

General Ironwood took a minute to calm himself down. "Alright. Put them in a cell for now. Then let's get a unit formed to head to Anima tomorrow."

"Yes, sir." Private Bueller confirmed. He let the kids and their parents to the holding area. Putting them all in a cell, he then proceeded to stand guard. This gave the families time to find out what was going on.

"Ruby. Please tell me what's going on." Summer said with pleading eyes looking at her daughter.

The kids looked at each other. They knew this would happen sooner or later. Right now, they just wished that they didn't have to get captured by the Atlas Military to get them to tell their parents. Jaune sighed but nonetheless was the first one to speak. "The truth is… we're involved in a war of alien robots."

"What?" One of Jaune's older sisters, Brittany gasped.

"There are two sides to this war." Blake continued. "The Autobots who are fighting to protect our world, and the Decepticons who want nothing more than to take our world's resources for their own purposes and even conquer our world if they have the opportunity."

"So, aliens are real?" Qrow asked.

"Yes," Weiss answered. "One day, we stumbled upon a strange object in the forest that got us all involved in this.

"So, Jaune. That car I gave you for your birthday…" John started.

"Was an alien robot that's been protecting me up to two months ago." Jaune finished with his head hung low, attempting for no one to see his tears.

"Same with most of us." Ren chimed in. "Some of us have these robots have made it their duty personally protecting us."

"So, not all of these alien robots are bad." Willow surmised.

"Exactly," Yang said. "A big problem is that now that the Atlesian Military knows about them, they're probably going to go out, hunt them all down, and kill them."

"The Autobots are not only allies, but they're also our friends." Nora lightly sobbed.

"Well, I think I can speak for all of us when we say we may be very disappointed in you for not keeping us in the loop, we do understand why you did it: To protect those you love and care about. That is the part we're all proud of after hearing this." Taiyang explained with a small smile.

That broke the dam for the kids as they hugged their respective parents. This was a big moment for everyone at the moment. "So, how have these robots protected you so far?" Raven asked, genuinely curious.

"There's a young Autobot named Hightrail who has saved Rubes on more than one occasion," Yang said. "Not to mention she's incredibly adorable." She began to squeal at how cute Hightrail could be sometimes.

"Pursuit used to be a Decepticon until he saw the error of his ways and defected to the Autobots. Now, he's an honorable warrior looking to make up for the horrible deeds of his past." Blake explained.

"Wildfire's Yang's guardian. She's a thrill seeker, but she's there for Yang when it counts." Ruby smiled.

"I'm afraid Ren and I don't have Autobot guardians ourselves, but that doesn't mean we're unprotected. We can take care of ourselves just fine." Weiss said holding her head high.

"My Autobot guardian is Snipewing. She told me a sad story while giving some advice on a topic I find important." Pyrrha remembered.

"Ironhide's my guardian!" Nora quietly cheered. "He's one of the oldest Autobots but he can still kick a Con's ass from here to next Sunday. A dozen even if he has to."

"My guardian is… was Bumblebee." Jaune quickly corrected. "He was my best friend from another planet who I could talk to if things got rough. Two months ago, he was killed by the Decepticons in a battle at Vale's Beachfront. Now, I will make the Decepticons pay for what they did. All the Autobots help out when they can. Their main objectives are to protect Remnant and fight the Decepticons."

"I just can't believe your sister is going along with all of this." Blake hissed.

"I don't think she has much of a choice, Blake." Weiss sighed. "Most of the time, she works directly under General Ironwood, and he commands the entire Atlas Military along with the other generals."

"Meaning that old Jimmy is probably gonna screw things up sooner or later." Qrow assumed.

"Now, Qrow, you don't know that." Hercules said, trying to calm Qrow down.

"Cmon, Herc. You know Ironwood. You know that's what he's gonna do." Qrow continued.

"We have to get out of here." Yang said.

"Have you forgotten where we are, Yang? We're in a cell surrounded by guards." Weiss reminded.

"Why don't we call the Autobots?" Yang suggested.

"No!" Jaune shouted all of a sudden. "We don't want the Atlesian Military getting their hands on our friends. They'll probably dissect them."

"Wait a minute!" Pyrrha realized. "Remember the objects we have? They're also our weapons."

"Pyrrha, what are you talking about?" Athena asked.

The kids didn't say anything and instead brought the small Autobot symbols they had managed to hide from the military. In seconds, they transformed into their weapons. Their parents and siblings were wide-eyed. "Well, that's a thing." Raven muttered, surprised nonetheless.

Ruby brought out her Thermal Knife and cut the bars once and then Blake used Gambol Shroud sliced through the bars, freeing them from the cell. "Now that we're released early, we've got to find a way out of this place." Blake said.

"Agreed, Blake, but remember, this is Atlas Military Headquarters." Ren reminded. "We have to use stealth to get out of here." He looked at Nora and Yang.

"Why are you looking at me and Yang, Ren?" Nora asked.

"You and Yang are the loudest and most destructive." Ren deadpanned. "Thus, I feel the need to emphasize the point of being quiet."

"Let's just get out of here and get back to Vale. After this, we'll have to keep looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives. " Jaune said sternly and darkly, cutting the conversation off. The others looked at him with concern and shock. They knew he wasn't very positive for any outcome, but this was full-blown negativity.

"I'm afraid you lot won't be leaving here, Jaune Arc." General Faust echoed.

"However, we have a little proposition for you." Winter added. The families looked at each other, wondering what this proposition was.

_*Anima. Small Town. Barnhouse. 13:11 pm*_

All was quiet in the barnhouse, but there was not only scraps of hay, wood and other materials everywhere, there was also a large hole in the ground where skittering and slight buzzing could be heard.

Suddenly, something crawled out of the hole. It was a mechanical insectoid with six legs, a slightly pointed head that kept twitching to other directions, a pair of red eyes that kept moving sporadically, and it was purple and a pale dark green-yellow color. It walked out of the barn and made its way to the town.

Once in the town, the robotic insect knew there were no people around, so it could roam freely. A couple other robotic insects looking just like it popped out of the darkness and joined it. One thing was for sure, the town was infested.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Storage Room. 16:37 pm*_

In the storage room, the three stasis pods began blinking on and off. All of a sudden, the blinking stopped. Then, the trio of pods opened. The three Mini-Cons stepped out of their respective pods, analyzing their new surroundings. They figured out that there were on a planet alien to them.

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hope you all enjoyed the first part of **_**Insecticon Swarm**_**! Now, like in the last chapter/episode, things are heating up. The kids and their families have been taken to Atlas. The kids tell their folks about the Transformers war. Now, the Autobots didn't show up in this chapter/episode, but they will show up soon.**

**While in Atlas, we get introduced to a new soldier character: Private Mitchell Bueller who has reported to General Ironwood regarding the small town in Anima where all of the people have mysteriously disappeared. This is all part of the multi-parter. This makes you wonder how the Atlas Military will respond now that they're thinking it might be more Transformers.**

**Be prepared for a slew of Atlesian Military OC characters. If you have any ideas for these characters, please let me know. Private Bueller was only the beginning of this.**

**Finally regarding Atlas, those three Mini-Con in those stasis pods have woken up at last. What will they do? Whose side will they be on? I give special thanks to OC contributor: cryo threshold for providing these three OCs from back in **_**Dustformers: Season 1**_**. **

**I know the Decepticons haven't shown up, but they will. However, the kids, military, and Autobots won't fight them. It'll mainly be Insecticons which will be fought. The Insecticons seen at the end of this chapter/episode are the ones from the **_**Fall of Cybertron**_** and **_**Rise of the Dark Spark**_**. These won't be the only Insecticon drone designs I'll be using.**

**If anyone has any ideas for **_**Insecticon Swarm **_**and/or Dustformers in general, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.**

**My OC contributors:**

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

Invictus113

D3ADPOOLK1d

**Invictus113 and D3ADPOOLK1d are my two newest OC contributors. Like all the people that contribute to Dustformersl I wouldn't have gotten this far without your support. So, I give a special thanks to the OC/story idea contributors and I hope more join. I like reading your ideas and I do my very best to include them into the story.**


	3. Insecticon Swarm Part 2

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here, and welcome back to Dustformers: Season 2 and the multi-parter: Insecticon Swarm. A few things happened in the last part of Insecticon Swarm: The kids and their families were taken by the Atlas Military, the parents now know about the Transformers, Jaune shows more negativity, the Insecticons are shown to be roaming around that small town in Anima, and finally, the three Mini-Cons in the stasis pods have at last reactivated.**

**I have had this multi-parter in the works in my head since Dustformers: Season 1. I once again thank cryo threshold for the contribution. **

**Now, let's head back into **_**Insecticon Swarm Part 2**_**!**

* * *

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. General Faust's Quarters. 6:01 am*_

General Faust was getting something ready in her quarters. The kids, and General Ironwood were there while the parents were waiting outside. "Okay. I think it's ready." General Faust said getting up from under her desk.

"Everyone. Since you know about our alien visitors, this is footage from the small town in Anima from three days ago." General Ironwood informed as he turned to look at the footage projection.

The footage showed townspeople having their weapons shooting at something. The kids had their eyebrows raised at what they might've been shooting at. Suddenly, something moved in front of the footage. When the thing moved a second later, one of the people shooting was just gone. All that was left was a pile of blood. The kids were kind of stunned at how fast that happened.

The footage then showed another townsperson get stabbed by something that looked like a mechanical leg. The mechanical leg then dragged the now-dead person out of view. The kids and two generals then heard a new sound that sounded like chittering of some kind. "What is that? Why does whatever it is sound like that?" Blake thought to herself. Suddenly, a robotic insect face popped up on the screen and screeched at the camera. Then, the footage cut out.

When the footage ended, the kids were talking amongst each other. "What the hell was that?" Nora asked quietly.

"It looked like a robot insect," Ren answered just as quietly.

"Strange that it didn't have a Decepticon symbol. It didn't have the Autobot symbol either, though." Blake pointed out.

"We can't rule out the possibility that it could be a Decepticon," Ruby whispered.

"It seems that you eight know what that thing on the footage is." General Ironwood stated.

"Actually, sir, we've never seen anything like that before," Weiss said.

"Are you sure about that?" General Faust asked.

"Perfectly, ma'am," Weiss replied.

"We're putting together a unit to drop in and deal with this. We want you eight to join this unit and help us deal with these robot insects." General Ironwood revealed.

"Why would we help you guys?" Jaune asked, sarcasm evident in his voice.

"If you don't, then your families will be considered fugitives of Atlas and will always be under surveillance." General Faust brought up. "Unless you want to give us the exact location of your alien friends."

That got the kids thinking. If they helped Atlas, the Atlas Military would gain more information about the Transformers. If they didn't, they and their families would be considered fugitives of the entirety of Atlas unless they revealed the location of the Ark. Jaune sighed. "Alright. We'll help. Just let us know when we're heading out."

"Excellent." General Ironwood smiled. "Return to your temporary quarters with your families. We'll let you know when it's time."

The kids left General Faust's quarters and hugged their parents and siblings. "How'd it go?" Kali asked.

"We have to help the Atlas Military with a mission concerning a small town in Anima." Blake responded.

"If we chose not to help, we would all be considered fugitives of Atlas." Yang slightly growled.

"They can't do that," Raven growled in agreement.

"Unfortunately, they can, Ms. Branwen," Winter said walking over to the group.

"What do you want, Ice Queen?" Qrow sneered.

"What I want is to show you all to the quarters you'll be staying in," Winter said. The group walked behind Winter. A little bit later, they arrived at their temporary quarters.

"Not bad," Roslyn commented.

"Speak for yourself, Roslyn," Saphron commented back rolling her eyes.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you're helping us with this," Winter said softly.

"I'm not," Jaune growled. "All you among others here want is to ensure Atlas's survival if things happen to go south for the rest of Remnant."

Everyone went quiet at that. Jaune actually growled. He very rarely did that before. "Jaune, please. Don't do this." Pyrrha quietly pleaded, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Jaune shrugged off Pyrrha's hand and walked to the back of the room. The other kids watched Jaune having a scowl on his face.

Weiss walked up to Winter and hugged her. "Please reconsider what you're doing, Winter."

Winter began to tear up. "I can't. I have to help ensure Remnant's future." With that, she walked off.

"Yeah, 'Remnant's future' my ass." Qrow rolled his eyes.

"Atlas doesn't know what they're getting themselves into," Jaune muttered. "They tried to attack the Decepticons at Vale's Beachfront two months ago and what happened? They got completely wiped out. They had virtually no chance. Only the Autobots can stop them and I assume that they know they didn't do anything, but they don't seem to get it."

The kids and Jaune's family were looking at him with concern and sadness, more so with the kids. Had Bumblebee's death really affected him this much? From the looks of it, it must've been destroying him inside.

"I really hope the Atlas Military knows what they're doing," Athena stated, really hoping that.

_*Anima. Underneath the Barnhouse. 8:12 am*_

There was a lot of chittering in this newly-made underground space. There were a lot of drones moving around fresh-made holes in the ground. It seemed they were making some sort of hive for themselves. Amidst the drones, there was a black, purple, and yellow grasshopper was hanging from the ceiling, seemingly overlooking the drones.

In one of the holes in the side was a robotic stag beetle with the same color scheme as the grasshopper. It was looking around to see the drones continue to just move around aimlessly, though some were heading outside and coming back in.

There was a third black, purple, and yellow Boll Weevil just sitting on the ground, lying motionless. "Must the drones make all this noise? It's a wonder I get anything done." It suddenly said.

"Calm down, down." The stag beetle voiced. "They are mere drones, after all. It's essential to have them moving around all the time, or would you rather have them in here all the time, time?"

"You have a fair point there." The grasshopper said from the ceiling. "However, you two should be grateful that we were able to make this in so short a time."

"We must continue gathering materials to strengthen our lair and to produce more of us." The boll weevil added. "We have no idea if anyone will be unfortunate enough to stumble upon us and/or attack us."

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Kid's and Family's Temporary Quarters. 10:12 am*_

People haven't said much since a few hours ago when Winter was with them. There wasn't really much to be said. Jaune had barely moved from his spot in the back. His sisters had moved to his spot to try and comfort him which somewhat worked.

"I wonder when something will happen," Yang muttered quietly.

"Hopefully nothing," Blake said.

"I agree with Blake." Ruby voiced. "We're not giving up our friends."

"You said it, Ruby." Nora agreed.

"Thus, we have no choice to help the Atlas Military with whatever they have for us," Pyrrha stated.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps. "Speak of the devil," Taiyang said.

"Everyone. Walk with me." General Ironwood motioned. Everyone got up and walked with the general.

"What is it, General?" Weiss asked.

"We have our team set up to go to the small town in Anima to investigate and eliminate. Also, if possible help us with securing one of these robot insects for further analysis." General Ironwood informed. "Will you help us?"

"Yes. We'll help you." Ruby said.

General Ironwood smiled. "Excellent. Continue with me and you'll meet the team you'll be working with for this mission." They did just that and they made their way into the main hangar. "Here they are. Introduce yourselves, people."

The first to introduce themselves had pine green hair, pink eyes with a sunflower tattoo on her left cheek. Hello. I'm Specialist Erica Flora. I hope we can work well together."

"I-I'm Private Mitch Bueller. Believe it or not, it is nice to meet you all." He stuttered. He had black hair with a white spot in the center, blue eyes wearing black fingerless gloves.

"Private Dixon Spyke. Howdy." He smiled. He was different from the first two. He was a Faunus. A Thorny Devil Faunus to be more specific as he had small thorns protruding from his body which was why he was wearing a special uniform. Besides that, he was bald with brown eyes.

"Pleasure to meet you all. I'm Private Carrol Garcia." She bowed. She had long, black hair with orange eyes and a small cut on her chin.

"I see you've met my sister. I'm Sergeant Orville Garcia." He said. He also had black hair and orange eyes. He was slightly more muscular than his sister.

"I'm Private Terry Rockwell. How you all doing?" He asked. He had a cowboy hat hanging from his back and had orange hair and dark green eyes.

The last Private in the unit was a Serval Faunus as they saw her cute cat ears. She had sandy colored hair and brown eyes. "Hi. I'm Private Cassie Rayne." She cutely waved.

"Now that they've introduced themselves, I'm Corporal Matthew Weir." He was taller than most of the unit. He had dark red hair and pale yellow eyes with a skull and crossbones symbol on his uniform.

"I'm the commander of this unit. I'm Captain Wilbur Prescott." He was a Seagull Faunus. He had wings sprouting from his back. "He had pure white hair and orange eyes.

"Now that you have introduced yourselves, let's get you all to Anima ASAP." General Ironwood ordered.

"Yes, sir." Captain Prescott acknowledged.

"What do we do?" An asked.

"You all will go back to your quarters and wait till they return." General Ironwood said.

"Are you serious?" Romulus asked, his irritation clearly growing.

"We don't really have a choice," Qrow muttered.

"I'm glad to see you all are cooperating with us." General Ironwood smiled as the parents went back to the temporary quarters and the kids joined the rather large unit in the Bullhead.

_*Bullhead. On the way to Anima. 11:21 am*_

While the Bullhead was traveling to its destination, the kids weren't really looking to make conversations with the unit. Ruby was sharpening her weapon while Yang was making sure Ember Celica had more than enough ammo. Blake was reading her book with Weiss beside her checking Myrtenaster's dust. Ren was trying to calm Nora down as she was slightly cheering to have pancakes when the mission was finished. She wasn't as cheerful, mind you. Really, she was more concerned about Jaune.

Speaking of Jaune, he was sitting silently mostly away from everyone else just staring at the sky. Pyrrha was right beside him trying to find a way to start a conversation, but to no avail so far. She was the most worried due to how he acted at the Atlas Military Headquarters. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Erica winking at Jaune which caused her to slightly growl internally.

"So, the eight of you know what these things are, right?" Private Garcia asked.

Blake sighed. She didn't want to talk to the unit, but she forced out an answer. "Are you just assuming?"

"Why don't you answer? You wouldn't have been brought here and doing this if you really didn't know anything." Sergeant Garcia correctly assumed.

Blake didn't find a fault in his Sergeant Garcia's logic for the moment. "Yes. We do."

"That's good, though. That means you must know any weaknesses." Private Spyke guessed.

"That's a good guess as we don't really know any true weaknesses." Nora sheepishly muttered.

"Please. Any info could really help." Private Rayne softly said.

"Don't worry, guys. The Atlas Military will protect you." Private Spyke cockily said. "We have all kinds of weapons on our side. Hell, even sharp sticks are a part of our arsenal. I wouldn't be surprised that this enemy turns tail and runs away at the mere sight of the Atlas Military."

"Dixon, could you knock it off?" Erica asked with a small scowl. "Seriously, you don't need to be like that."

"Alright, people. We're landing in five!" Captain Prescott informed. "Will one of you please wake up Private Bueller?"

_*Anima. Small Town. Kids & Atlesian Military Unit. 13:10 pm*_

It was raining by the time the Bullhead landed. "Oh, come on! Why'd it have to be raining by the time we get here?" Yang complained.

"Really, Yang? I'd be more concerned with what we saw on the footage." Weiss said.

"Oh, you mean that robot insect thing?" Yang asked. Weiss nodded. "Yeah, I admit that I'm a little worried about that. However, it shouldn't be too much to fuss over."

"I wouldn't be so confident, Yang," Ruby whispered after walking over to her sister. "Remember that we were the same after we beat the Grimmcons, but that didn't help us at Vale's Beachfront" Hearing that caused Yang to slowly go silent.

"Alright, everyone! Move up!" Captain Prescott ordered. The unit and kids moved up and spread out by squads. They paused for a minute before moving on. "Squad one: Check out the structures for any clues to the disappearance of the townspeople!"

Squad One obeyed as they began heading into the various structures to hopefully find any clues to the townspeople's whereabouts.

"Squads Two and Three: Move to the other end of the town to stand watch!" Captain Prescott ordered. The two squads obeyed as they ran to the other end of town.

"A standard Atlas Military maneuver," Weiss observed.

"Yes. It has helped us on several occasions." Private Bueller added while he was standing behind Weiss.

"Oh! Private Bueller." Weiss slightly squeaked.

"Sorry if I startled you." Private Bueller apologized. "As I said, this maneuver has benefitted the Atlas Military on several occasions."

"Yes, I know. I sometimes read reports." Weiss stated.

"I am worried about these people. If the enemy is unlike anything we've encountered, we'll need any advantage we can get." Private Bueller voiced.

"I hope we can rescue the townspeople," Weiss said. "They are innocent and don't deserve this."

In another part of the town, Jaune and Pyrrha were searching for any clues to the townspeople. "Jaune, you've been awfully quiet," Pyrrha commented.

Jaune sighed softly this time and turned to face Pyrrha. "I'm sorry, Pyrrha It's just that I don't feel comfortable being with the Atlas Military."

"Okay, I do agree with you there," Pyrrha admitted.

"The fact that they know about our friends and will probably keep us thereafter this mission to try and extract whatever information about the Transformers from us to fuel their own agenda." Jaune reasoned.

"That may be true, but don't you think you're being a little bit paranoid?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune sighed again. "Maybe I am, but after what happened, I can't afford to not be on my toes at all times." He walked off leaving Pyrrha with a saddened expression due to how he was acting. She had to bring him out of it somehow.

Ruby and Yang were with Squad One and managed to sneak off to take a little break to talk. "Yang, did you see the way Jaune acted before we got here?" Ruby asked.

Yang turned to face her sister. "I did, Rubes. We all know why and that he blames himself for it. I don't think being essentially kidnapped with his family and brought to Atlas and practically being forced to work for the Atlas Military isn't helping at all."

"Well, I kind of agree with you on the last part. We were all essentially brought to Atlas against our will and our families have just been brought along for the ride." Ruby sighed.

"Well, at least we don't have to hide anything from the parental units anymore." Yang smiled slightly.

That got Ruby to giggle a little. "Yeah. There's that. You just found a small silver lining in this. No doubt Dad's gonna hug us to death."

Yang laughed a little at that. "You're right about that. We should probably get back with the rest of the squad." Ruby smiled at Yang and the two went to rejoin Squad One.

Weiss and Blake were also searching for clues related to the people's whereabouts. "We need to get out of Atlas." Blake suddenly said.

"Blake, while I agree with you, I have to ask how are we going to do that?" Weiss asked. "Not only would the Atlas Military be on us in seconds, but we'd be labeled as fugitives to the entirety of Atlas."

Blake's cat ears drooped a little. The group always found it adorable when Blake's cat ears moved. "Sorry, Weiss. I'm just afraid the Atlas Military will stop at nothing to gain the information we have regarding our alien friends. Not to mention that they have our families and can threaten us with harming them."

"Look, I get what you're saying. I really do, but we also have to still consider the Decepticons." Weiss reminded. "They've been awfully quiet again. Who knows when they could strike again."

Blake nodded at Weiss's words. The Decepticons have gone quiet again for the past two months. They had no idea when they would attack again.

"Blake, let's try to focus on the objective, please." Weiss said softly. "We can talk about this after we find the people of this town."

"Alright, but we better talk about it after this." Blake relented. "We may not get another chance."

Ren and Nora were walking around slowly. "Renny, I'm getting a chilling feeling." She shivered.

"What's wrong?" Ren asked in concern.

"I'm not sure. It's like I get the feeling that something horrible that we don't want to find out happened." Nora muttered, still shivering.

Ren brought her into a warm hug in which she began to calm down. "It'll be okay, Nora. I won't let anything happen to you." He whispered.

"Thank you, Ren." Nora whispered back. "I promise the same thing to you."

When all the squads and kids regrouped, they told each other that they somehow found nothing regarding the townspeople. Suddenly, Private Rayne got something on her scanner. "I've got something!" She exclaimed.

"Where?" Captain Prescott asked

"In the bank's vault." Private Rayne informed.

"Alright, let's keep sharp. We have no idea what it is." Captain Prescott ordered. With that, they went to the bank. When they got there, they kept themselves on edge just in case it wasn't what they wanted it to be. They slowly approached the vault at the back of the bank. "Here we go." Captain Prescott whispered.

They opened the vault, and a girl that looked about 9 years old with short black hair, torn denim jeans and overalls ran out. the first to react was Nora who ran after the girl. After a couple of minutes, Nora found the girl hiding under a porch. "Hey. It's okay." Nora spoke in a very soft voice.

The girl didn't believe her and moved backwards. Nora frowned at this. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna hurt you." Nora's voice was soothing to the girl, so she slowly crawled out of her hiding space. Nora immediately wrapped her into a tight hug. "You'll be ok. You're safe now."

A little later, Nora rejoined the group with the girl in tow. "Who's this?" Private Rockwell asked.

"Everyone. This is Lily." Nora softly spoke. Lily nervously waved at the group who waved back with small smiles on their faces. The unit was glad they found at least one person in the entire town. Since they found no one else, some of the unit instantly assumed the worst whereas the kids and others thought that maybe they'll find her parents. Lily didn't say much as she didn't want to speak with anyone but Nora.

Some like Private Spyke were scanning for the townspeople in hopes of finding them and completing the mission. "Yo! I think we've found them."

"Alive or dead?" Corporal Weir asked.

"Not sure, but it looks like they're at a barnhouse just outside the town." Private Spyke said.

"Maybe they're having a union?" Sergeant Garcia suggested.

"Alright, everyone! Gear up and move out!" Captain Prescott commanded and the unit obeyed, though the kids were more reluctant to do so. Nora still couldn't shake off a chilling feeling in her spine.

* * *

**Hello, everyone. Here is Insecticon Swarm Part 2. We have seen the original G1 Insecticon trio: Shrapnel, Bombshell, and Kickback discussing gathering more materials for their hive and produce more Insecticons. Who knows where that will lead.**

**In Atlas, the kids and their families are still in their temporary quarters simply waiting for something to happen. Then, something does and they agree to help the Atlas Military with their mission which results in a slew of Atlesian Military OCs: Private Mitch Bueller, Private Terry Rockwell, Sergeant Orville Garcia, Captain Wilbur Prescott, Private Cassie Rayne, Private Carrol Garcia, Corporal Matthew Weir, Private Dixon Spyke, and Specialist Erica Flora. I did my best with their introductions, showing little things to distinguish themselves from each other. There are also a number of random, nameless grunts joining in.**

**After the introductions, they made their way to the small town in Anima, some of the unit cocky that this will be a cakewalk compared to the fight at Vale's Beachfront. How little do they really know regarding most things Cybertronian. As they search for any clues regarding the townspeople **

**Author's Notes #1: A little factoid about the Insecticon concept for those who don't really know. In the 90s with Beast Wars, people tried to make Insecticon a name for a singular individual instead of a whole concept or subgroup. This was attempted again with 2004's Transformers: Energon comic where he was a part of the breakaway Terrorcon faction while in the Transformers: Energon cartoon had Insecticon as an identical Terrorcon drone. The live-action films and the Aligned continuity basically surrendered to the idea of being a whole concept. In the Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and Rise of the Dark Spark video games from 2012 and 2014 took the concept and made them a naturally occurring form of Cybertronian life.**

**Author's Notes #2: If you figured it out, I'm homaging the 1986 film: Aliens which is one of my favorite older movies of all time. R.I.P Bill Paxton.**


	4. Insecticon Swarm Part 3

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. In the last chapter/episode, The Atlesian Military has sent the kids and a unit of soldiers to the small town in Anima to search for the townspeople only to find absolutely zero clues relating to their disappearance. **

**On another note, the kids have conversations with each other regarding working with the Atlas Military considering their families and freedom are being threatened unless they divulge any information about the Transformers.**

**In the end, a little girl named Lily is found in the bank vault but she runs off and is calmed down by Nora. After that, the townspeople have apparently been found. Is it the townspeople though, or is it really something worse?**

**Let's see where this goes in **_**Insecticon Swarm Part 3**_**!**

* * *

_*Anima. Barnhouse. Just Outside Small Town. 15:00 pm*_

The Atlesian Military unit and kids had just reached the barnhouse. Apparently, it was a little further from the town than anticipated. When they got there, they saw the damage done to the structure. There were were no more fires starting, though there was a big hole in the ground. "What the hell do you guys think dug this?" Private Spyke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I have a bad feeling about this, guys." Private Rayne shuddered.

"Why do you say that now, Private Rayne?" Corporal Weir asked.

"W-Well..." Private Rayne stuttered. "I-I hear chittering of a sort. Lots and lots of chittering."

"Come on, Cassie." Specialist Flora said, a little exasperated. "This sin't the first mission we've been on where something seems to be bad, but then turns out to be okay."

"I know, I know." Private Rayne acknowledged. "However, the chittering..."

"I'm sure it's nothing, Private Rayne." Captain Prescott tried to assure.

"Captain, I think Private Rayne's opinion deserves some merit." Private Bueller said.

"I agree, sir." Private Spyke voiced.

"Alright." Captain Prescott relented. "We'll go in slowly and be on the lookout for anything suspicious."

"Thank you for listening, sir." Priavte Rayne smiled.

"What about Lily?" Nora asked out of the blue.

"The girl will stay with you, Miss Valkyrie, so see to it that she doesn't get into any trouble." Captain Prescott continued. "Also, see that she doesn't cause us any trouble."

Nora didn't like Captain Prescott's attitude regarding Lily. She was just a ten-year old girl missing her parents and friends. Nora wanted to yell at the man, but knew it wouldn't do any good, so she reluctantly sighed. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Remember that you eight are here only because General Ironwood thinks you have information that may prove useful." Captain Prescott reminded.

Nora lowly growled. Pyrrha put a hand on her shoulder. Nora didn't really have any choice. "Don't worry, Lily. I won't let anything happen to you."

Lily merely nodded. "Alright, people! Time to head in!" Captain Prescott shouted. They all walked into the hole in the ground. Pretty soon, it was almost pitch black. "Turn on your lights, people."

The unit did just that and they saw the tunnel was bigger and deeper than they expected. "Who do you guys think dug this?" Private Garcia asked.

_"Not who, what." _Weiss thought ominously as they continued down the tunnel. They wound up walking for a few more minutes until they saw something. "Guys, there's a light a little further down!" Yang exclaimed.

"We could see that ourselves, Miss Xiao Long." Captain Prescott deadpanned. "Let us please focus on our mission."

"I agree with Captain Prescott." Sergeant Garcia said. "Let's focus on rescuing the townspeople."

_"If there's anything left to rescue." _Jaune darkly thought.

When they reached the end of the tunnel, they were slightly amazed at what they stumbled upon. It was not only light underground, but it looked like an insect structure with many pathways in the sides and on the ceiling leading to who knew where. It was like a maze, only no one knew where the end was.

"One can't help but marvel the workmanship." Blake whispered in slight awe.

"Don't touch anything." Captain Prescott said sternly.

"Don't touch anything." Nora quietly mocked which made Lily smile slightly. Seeing this perked Nora up a little.

"Let's look around. See if we can find anything in here." Sergeant Garcia suggested.

"Alright. Spread out." Captain Prescott said. They started looking around for any sign of the townspeople. Lily stuck to Nora like glue with Nora having an arm wrapped around the girl.

Private Rayne and Blake could still hear the chittering. What was it? What could it be? Suddenly, Blake saw what looked like a person. When she checked the person, her eyes widened in fear as she gasped. The person's body was mostly eaten as there was blood on the ground. The poor person's limbs were missing, intestines spilled out, blood all over the body. The others ran to where Blake was and saw the body. Nora instantly covered Lily's eyes. Jaune, Weiss, Ruby, and Pyrrha felt the bile rising but they managed to keep it down. The Atlesian Military unit were mostly unaffected but still shocked at what they were seeing.

"What the hell..." Private Spyke muttered.

"That is gore." Private Bueller managed to keep any bile in his throat down.

"If that's what happened to this guy..." Private Rockwell started.

"Who knows the condition of the rest of them." Sergeant Garcia finished.

"Well, we don't know. It could just be this one person that's like this." Ruby added, trying to keep optimism in the group.

"It's not good to keep optimism in a situation like this. You have to accept any outcome, not matter how dark it is." Captain Prescott criticized.

This caused Ruby to pout and Yang to lightly glare at Captain Prescott who merely shrugged it off.

The chittering became louder and everyone could hear it this time. "What's that noise?" Private Garcia asked.

"Now do you all hear the chittering?" Private Rayne asked rhetorically.

"Yes we do, Private Rayne." Corporal Weir answered.

"Uh, guys..." Private Bueller said as he pointed to the ground. They all looked and saw more bodies littering the ground. Most were partly eaten, limbs missing, guts spilled out, though some looked completely fine.

"Holy shit..." Corporal Weir whispered to himself.

"Agreed, Corporal Weir." Private Rockwell added.

They kept walking around looking for any sign that any townspeople were alive. As they were, Private Rayne's leg was grabbed by a barely alive townsperson. "Y-You a-all h-have to l-leave this p-place." The person uttered out.

"What is it?" One of the grunts asked quietly but the townsperson went unconscious. Suddenly, something large whizzed past the group on the wall. It made a noise, so people turned around to see what it was only to find nothing.

"What was that?" Pyrrha asked herself.

"We've got movement, guys!" Private Spyke exclaimed.

"Talk to us, Private Spyke!" Captain Prescott ordered while slowly moving backwards, his weapon at the ready.

"I don't believe it. We've got multiple readings! Something's down here!" Private Spyke added.

"I think we should get out of here right now." Jaune spoke.

"You are not in command here, Mister Arc." Captain Prescott reminded sternly.

"Hey, he was just making a suggestion." Pyrrha retorted/growled.

While this was going on, one of the grunts was moving backwards, his back hitting a wall. What he didn't see was something crawling in the shadows right behind him with glowing purple eyes. A mere second later, it reached out and impaled him in the shoulder and hip with two of it's legs, making the grunt scream out in intense pain. This caught everyone's attention as they turned to see the grunt being carried up by a robot insect which screeched at them.

"EEEEKK!" Private Rayne, Ruby, and Weiss screamed. "WHAT IS THAT?!"

The grunt being carried up was firing his weapon wildly hooping to hit the robot insect, but instead hit various spots on the ceiling. "Open fire!" Captain Prescott shouted. They unit started shooting at the strange robotic creature, actually hitting it. Mostly, their shots were just annoying it as it just screeched at them in irritation. However, one of the shots hit it's eye which made it shriek in pain and fall back down to the ground. They managed to get the wounded grunt away from the creature as they continued shooting it. After lots of shots fired, the robotic insect fell over, finally dead.

Unfortunately, this was only the beginning as mere seconds later, more robot insects began crawling out of the holes in the wall and ceiling "Oh, no." Blake frowned.

"Guys, get ready!" Jaune shouted. Eight flashes of light in a matter of seconds later, and RWBY and JNPR had their weapons out. The unit looked at them in astonishment for only a few seconds before redirecting their attention back to the growing number of robot insects as they began firing in all directions. Another grunt got slashed across the stomach and was instantly killed.

Ruby ran with _Crescent Rose _in hand and began slashing through a few robot insects skillfully as they couldn't dodge in time because she was using her semblance. Ruby grinned at her work. However, in the corner of her eye, she saw one of them approaching her from the side. she switched her scythe into sniper mode and fired a fire dust round that hit it straight in the head, killing it quickly.

Weiss used _Myrtenaster _where she fired ice dust at a few robot insects, hitting and propelling them into a wall. Two of them actually managed to break off their legs that were stuck and ran back at her. She sighed slightly exasperated and used her semblance. Her glyph appeared and protruded more ice spikes, impaling the two and killing them this time.

Blake was simply evading the robot insect attacks. She could somewhat tell that they were growing angry that they couldn't hit her. Blake quietly snickered at this but decided not to have too much fun toying with them and brought out _Gambol Shroud_. She began slashing the legs of the robot insect's so that they couldn't move and them swiftly slashed their bodies, killing them.

Yang was already going wild with _Ember Celica _as she was punching the robot insects. "Whoo!" She hollered as she dodged another attack. "Too slow, long legs!" She punched that robot insect in the face, sending it flying into another couple of them, in turn saving four Atlesian Military grunts. She fist-pumped before shooting dust rounds at three more of them, hitting their heads and blinding them for Yang to come in for the knockout punches.

Jaune on the other hand was gripping _Crocea Mors _tightly and with a dark expression on his face. "Guys, do you really want to do this?" He sarcastically asked. He got his answer when they shrieked. "I was hoping for this. I have a lot of frustrations I need to get out." He yelled and began slashing at them. He actually jumped and stabbed one in the head, it's fluids spilling out onto the floor though a little bit of it got onto his face. Another tried to attack but he simply moved backwards to dodge it. and then directly stabbed it in the body.

"Hold on very tight, Lily!" Nora shouted. The little girl held on as tight as she could as Nora started spinning around swinging _Magnhild _in hammer form hitting robot insects, actually knocking their heads off. When she stopped spinning, Lily was a little disoriented. "Sorry, Lily." She apologized softly. She quickly shifted her weapon to it's grenade launcher form and shot heart-shaped grenades at a couple of the holes in the wall, sealing them off.

Pyrrha had _Milo & Aokuo _in her hands, though her shield was a little covered in robot insect fluids as she was using her shield like a boomerang which succeeded in hitting several of the robotic creatures. She then smirked. merely lifting her hand, a black aura surrounded the robot insect and she started flinging it around hitting others knocking others onto the ground. Them, she began firing her weapon.

Ren was busy cutting them up with _StormFlower_. He was running all over the place as to avoid enemy attacks. He began shooting them now before activating his semblance. The robot insect that was charging him stopped in it's tracks. It began looking around. Ren flashed a grin before stabbing it in the eyes which made it screech in pain.

The Atlesian Military was continuing to shoot the robotic insects when suddenly two grunts' heads were sliced off. Their bodies slumped to the ground, dead and blood was spurting out. "They're emerging from the walls and ceiling!" Private Rockwell shouted.

"We can see that, Rockwell!" Private Garcia screamed back.

"Keep focused, people!" Corporal Weir yelled as he kept firing.

Suddenly, something larger than the robot insects that have been appearing dropped down from the ceiling. It was a purple, black, and yellow Praying Mantis that despite being quiet immediately slammed it's arms to the ground, killing three more grunts.

"That is one big fricking bug!" Private Rockwell shouted moving back a little not noticing something else moving behind him: A purple, black, and yellow Millipede that lifted itself up and went back down on him, intent on stabbing him with it's legs which he was barely able to dodge. He was sweating like crazy but was then shot by the purple, black, and yellow stag beetle. He fell to the ground, dead instantly as there were two large smoking holes in his back.

"Private Rockwell!" The unit screamed.

"Welcome to our hive, hive." The stag beetle breathed.

"THEY CAN TALK?!" The unit screamed at the top of their lungs.

_"That confirms my theory when I saw them on the footage." _Weiss thought.

"Must you scare them instantly, Shrapnel?" The boll weevil asked.

"It's fun, Bombshell, Bombshell." Shrapnel retorted. "What do you think about it, Kickback, Kickback?"

"I find it interesting that these humans would come down here." Kickback stated.

"Who cares? We have playmates to toy with!" The millipede squealed happily.

"Find your calm center, Thrillipede." The mantis calmly advised.

"Don't be such a spoilsport, Kamakiri." Thrillipede retorted.

"Keep firing, people!" Captain Prescott ordered.

The Atlesian Military unit did just that, but then, the five talking robot insects transformed to their robot forms. Kamakiri's mantis head went to his chest while his legs turned around, and his arms stayed the same. Thrillipede transformed next and her millipede legs became what looked like guns and her head looked like a helmet covering her face with two red eyes while her arms had claws instead of hands. Shrapnel, Bombshell, and Kickback transformed and proceeded to attack.

Sergeant Garcia was knocked into a wall by Thrillipede who was giggling. "Hope you like this, human!" Her legs then started firing at Sergeant Garcia, riddling him full of holes as he couldn't move in time. He didn't even have time to scream out in pain. His corpse fell to the ground which Private Garcia saw and had tears in her eyes which were wide as saucers.

"NNOOO! ORVILLE!" Private Garcia shrieked. She was frozen in place. Kickback nearly succeeded in kicking her to her death, but was saved by Ruby.

"Captain! We have to fall back!" Jaune shouted.

"We are not retreating!" Captain Prescott shouted back.

"Sir! We are clearly outmatched here! We have to fall back, regroup, and restrategize!" Corporal Weir yelled.

Before Captain Prescott could respond however, one of Kamakiri's arms sliced right through his body, his two halves falling opposite directions on the ground. They all had their jaws drop at seeing Captain Prescott, an Atlesian Military officer that survived a couple of gruesome battles get taken out in less than a second. "We have to go now!" Pyrrha screamed. They all agreed and they began to make their exit form the lair. However, five more grunts were trampled to death by Kickback and Thrillipede while two more were killed when Bombshell picked them up and threw them into the ceiling.

With the remaining group, they managed to escape back to the surface, but right after they got up, Yang, Nora, Weiss, and Ruby fired their dust rounds and grenades down the hole, hearing multiple sounds before running back to the town.

Back in the hive, the robot insects were just starting to calm down. "Whoo!" Thrillipede cheered. "That was soooo much fun!"

"You didn't find your center." Kamakiri chastised.

"Will you give her a break, Kamakiri?" Kickback asked.

"These beings were obviously no match for us." Bombshell stated, observing the dead human bodies littering the place.

"We must hunt them down before we're discovered, discovered." Shrapnel suggested.

"We will, Shrapnel." Kamakiri assured. "There's few planes out here where they could hide from us."

_*Anima. Small Town. Bank Vault. 17:23 pm*_

The remaining group were hiding out in the bank vault where they found Lily. "You okay, Lily?" Nora asked softly.

"Y-Yes." Lily quietly said while giving her a thumbs-up.

Private Garcia obviously wasn't doing well as she had just witnessed her brother being killed right in front of her. "I-I can't b-believe h-he's g-g-gone." She cried quietly.

"What the fuck did we get ourselves into?" Private Bueller whispered to himself.

"We should just bug out and call it a day." Private Rayne suggested quietly with her back turned from everyone else.

"You want to retreat?" Corporal Weir asked with a tone in his voice.

"Corporal! Did you just see what happened?! They took us down like we were kids!" Private Spyke yelled. "What are we even talking about this for?! We can't beat them! We barely made it out of there alive!"

While this was going on, the kids were just sitting away from the unit talking among each other. "So, the robot insects were Transformers. Five of them transformed." Weiss whispered.

"I knew this was going to be a slaughter." Jaune added sadly. "We tried telling them."

"Exactly." Ren said. "They chose not to listen to us."

"At the same time, it is partly our fault as we chose not to give any information." Blake voiced quietly.

"No it isn't." Yang retorted. "We've never seen ones like these before."

"Yang brings up a good point. We have no idea what these Transformers are actually capable of." Ruby finished.

"We have to try and contact the Autobots." Yang pointed out.

"That means one of us has to sneak past them." Weiss reminded.

"Either Ren or Blake. You two are the most stealth based." Jaune said.

The mentioned two looked at each other before deciding. "I'll go." Ren said. They nodded.

Ren used his semblance to sneak past the soldiers and made it to another part of town. He brought out his scroll and called the Autobots, to which Wheeljack popped up on the screen. "Ren! Where have you been?" He asked.

"Keep it down, Wheeljack." Ren harshly whispered. "We just escaped from what looked like a hive of robot insects."

Wheeljack's optics widened. "The Insecticons are here, then. That's not good at all."

"Insecticons?" Ren's eyebrow was raised.

"Long story. However, you didn't answer my question, Ren." Wheeljack reminded.

"We were captured by Atlas and forced to help. They also have our families." Ren slightly growled.

"That's horrible." Wheeljack sympathized. "Why would they do that?"

"To try and extract any information about your race as they can from us." Ren answered.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Temporary Quarters. 18:12 pm*_

The families were antsy to say the least as they were worrying about their children. "I swear if they hurt my little valkyrie, I will..." Romulus growled but was interrupted by Kali.

"Getting mad won't solve anything." She said sternly. "Unless we find a way out of here, we have no choice but to wait."

As if on cue, the door was torn open and the three Mini-Cons barged in. "This isn't a way out, Enertox." The Mini-Con with wings deadpanned.

"Well, excuse me, Plutowing. This is a new place to me. What do you think, Leadtread?" Enertox asked.

"What I'm seeing are multiple unknown life-forms." Leadtread pointed.

"What are you?" Li asked.

"I'm not sure we should tell you. For all we know, you're the ones that brought us here!" Plutowing accused.

"They're not." Leadtread cut in.

"How are you so sure?" Plutowing sneered.

"I'm scanning them right now. They were brought here against their will." Leadtread deadpanned again.

"Maybe we could help each other get out of here." Enertox suggested.

"That actually sounds like a plan and I'm agreeing with a talking robot." Qrow pointed out.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go." Taiyang said and they all left with the three Mini-Cons.

* * *

**Hello, everyone and I hope you liked part 3 of _Insecticon Swarm_. We've finally gotten to the nitty-gritty of this multi-parter. The kids and Atlesian Military unit have stirred the hornet's nest here underground. Bodies are everywhere littering the ground, save for some who are perfectly fine. Most of the unit have been killed by the Insecticons including most of the grunts, Private Terry Rockwell, Sergeant Orville Garcia, and Captain Wilbur Prescott. The remaining members of the unit are obviously not doing well and arguing with each other on what to do. Meanwhile, Ren managed to sneak out and contact Wheeljack, filling him in on what's happened.**

**Back in Atlas, the families are freed by the three Mini-Cons that have been wandering around Atlas Military HQ whose names are: Enertox, Plutowing, and Leadtread. As I've said, these three were contributed by cryo threshold: Another OC contributor.**

**Now, we have two new OCs introduced to the story provided by my newest OC contributor D3ADPOOLK1d: Kamakiri and Thrillipede who have two distinct personalities. Kamakiri is calm and collected while Thrillipede is reckless and excitable. I thank you: D3ADPOOLK1d for your contributions to _Dustformers: Season 2_. **

**Author's Notes #1: Another little factoid regarding the Insecticons is that they can eat virtually anything.**

**Now, as usual, if anyone has any ideas for _Dustformers: Season 2_, please let me know in the comments/reviews or personally PM me. We've got one more part of _Insecticon Swarm _to read before anything else, so please enjoy the rest of the ride.**


	5. Insecticon Swarm Part 4

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2. **_**Were at the final part of **_**Insecticon Swarm. **_**Shrapnel, Bombshell, Kickback, Kamakiri, and Thrillipede have made their appearance and killed most of the Atlesian Military unit, prompting them and the kids to escape the Insecticon hive. Obviously, they didn't get out unscathed as Private Terry Rockwell, Sergeant Orville Garcia, Captain Wilbur Prescott, and most of the grunts. The remaining numbers of the unit along with the kids are hiding out in the bank vault.**

**In Atlas, the three Mini-Cons whose names are Enertox, Leadtread, and Plutowing have helped break out the families and now are trying to find a way to escape Atlas. How will they accomplish this? Read and find out.**

**Now, let's finish off **_**Insecticon Swarm**_**!**

* * *

_*Anima. Small Town. 6:00 am*_

In the bank vault, no one really slept as they were on edge out of fear of being attacked, though some of them were dozing off. The kids were thankful that Ren was able to sneak out and contact Wheeljack about the Autobots about the now-named Insecticons.

Ruby began looking around and saw a cute sight with Nora and Lily cuddling together. That brought a small smile to her face. She decided to get up and talk to Private Garcia. "Hey."

"Hey." Private Garcia said softly.

"I'm so, so sorry." Ruby said genuinely, tearing up a little herself.

"Don't be, Miss Rose. It's not your fault." Private Garcia relpied. "It's just life in the military. Casualties are to be expected."

"That doesn't matter if it's family." Ruby reasoned. "You have every right to feel what you're feeling right now."

Private Garcia then went ahead and pulled Ruby in for a hug while she cried quietly. "I just can't believe he's really gone."

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Families & Mini-Cons. 7:12 am*_

Enertox, Leadtread, and Plutowing were walking around with the families following behind them. "So... Are you three Transformers?" Raven asked curiously.

Enertox's optics widened a little. "You know what we are?"

"Thanks to our kids." Willow deadpanned a little.

"I see. Are they with the Autobots or Decepticons?" Leadtread asked.

"I believe they said they are friends with the Autobots." Thora answered.

"Okay, they are indeed the good guys in the war." Plutowing smiled.

"So, how did you three wind up in Atlas?" Ghira asked.

"We don't really remember. All we remember is waking up from our stasis pods in this place. We must've been found by people of this Atlas and brought us here."

"At least we're working together to get out of here." An said. They continued walking trying to find a way to escape Atlas Military Headquarters.

_*Anima. Small Town. Bank Vault. 9:31 am*_

The Atlesian Military unit and kids had to come up with a game plan no matter what they were feeling at the moment. They had to fight back however they could. If the Insecticons escaped, it would equal chaos. The kids were hoping the Autobots would arrive and help out.

"I repeat, what can we do?" Private Spyke asked.

"That's what we have to figure out," Blake responded.

"We can't fight those things." Private Garcia said shaking a little.

"So, you're gonna just give up." Yang deadpanned.

"Do any of you have any suggestions?" Corporal Weir asked.

"Yeah. We fight back!" Nora declared. "So what if they aren't your standard enemies we're used to? We have to do something! If those things escape, the world will be in danger! We will fight back and with because we can do this! This is our world and we will protect it!"

Everyone who knew Nora looked at her in shock. Nora rarely spoke out like that, but when she did, she would make it count. "That's a good speech, Nora!" Yang and Ruby cheered.

"I have to say, I'm impressed." Weiss smiled.

Lily hugged Nora from behind. "T-Thank you." She said cutely. Nora smiled and ruffled Lily's hair.

Suddenly, they heard chittering. Insecticons were drawing near. They had to get ready for the upcoming battle. The kids ran outside first while Lily stayed in the vault. The remaining Atlesian Military unit ran out after the kids. When they got outside, they saw the five different colored Insecticons along with many drones approaching the small town.

"Alright, guys! Get ready!" Jaune shouted.

A few minutes later, the Insecticons entered the town with the sole intent on killing the humans and faunus that invaded their hive When they saw them standing still, the five leading Insecticons stopped a couple meters in front of them. So, you made this easy, easy." Shrapnel grinned.

"Who says this would be easy?" Yang grinned back.

"The fact that you're all just standing there like lambs to the slaughter." Bombshell pointed out.

Just then, a white, light green portal opened up right behind the kids and blaster shots fired though it hitting the Insecticons further back. "Who...?" Corporal Weir asked. Before anyone else could answer, Wheeljack, Ironhide, Full-Throttle, Wildfire, and Zig and Zag drove through. Thrillipede saw the symbol on the new vehicles.

"Autobots!" She exclaimed.

"What...?" Private Rayne asked quietly.

The vehicles then transformed to robot mode right before their eyes. "Beings from another world..." Erica quietly muttered.

"Anyone call for backup?" Zig grinned before shooting a drone with her Neutron Assault Rifle, killing it within seconds. "So, the enemy is on this planet as well." Kickback stated.

"You bet we are, bug. We'll kick your tailpipes anywhere you are!" Ironhide declared before punching Shrapnel in the faceplate.

"Let's do this!" Full-Trottle shouted.

"You really had to say that?" CLUTCH groaned.

Before he could retort, Thrillipede was in robot mode running toward him attempting to tackle him to the ground. Luckily, Full-Throttle saw this and dodged out of the way. "Come on, Autobot! I just wanna play with you!" Thrillipede exclaimed in an excited voice.

"Sorry, now's not really a good time to play" Full-Throttle responded.

"Who likes surprises?" Wheeljack asked rhetorically as he shot several round yet pointed objects at the ground. The Insecticon drones didn't see them and were electrocuted the second they were touched, making them go offline.

"Whoa! Wheeljack, what toy is that?" Nora asked with a smile.

"Shock Mines."Wheeljack answered. "They're designed to electrocute enemies on contact. Nice, huh?"

"Cool!" Ruby gushed with stars in her eyes.

"Pretty shocking, eh?" Yang punned, to which everybody groaned.

Kamakiri jumped over Wildfire trying to slice her in half but she evaded his attack. She in turn tried to punch Kamakiri, but he blocked it with his arms. "Is that the best you can do?" He transformed to robot mode and kicked Wildfire into a nearby structure.

He began advancing towards the Autobot, but Yang distracted him with a couple fire dust rounds to his side. He kept his composure however, and ran towards Yang, but Wildfire kicked him to the same side.

Zig and Zag fought Kickback and Shrapnel with their skills and weapons. "Too slow, bugs." Zag taunted.

"Are we?" Kickback taunted back as he kicked Zig a couple of feet back. Zig took it though and shot Kickback point-blank range which made him move backward. With Shrapnel, he couldn't do much against Zig's Neutron Assault Rifle fire.

"This isn't working, guys!" Thrillipede screamed.

"Then it's time to up our game, game!" Shrapnel declared. The five Insecticons transformed into their insect forms. This time, though, they transformed further. This was something the kids recognized from the Grimmcons. _"They're going to combine!" _They exclaimed in their heads. Shrapnel became a torso, Bombshell became the left arm while Kamakiri was the right arm, Thrillipede was the right leg, and Kickback was the left leg. A black head popped out of the larger body with purple eyes and gold antennae.

"WE ARE INFESTOR! WE WILL CONSUME AND DESTROY!" It declared.

"Not again."Weiss groaned.

"I don't think we have a chance against Infestor until we know what his abilities are," Blake said.

"Hey! You're not destroying anything, Decepti-creep!" Nora screamed with pure determination. "I won't let you do what you want to Remnant! I will stop you and all others like you! All life is precious! That's something you'll never understand! I will defeat all of you!" Suddenly, the object in Nora's pocket began glowing with the same light that Jaune had when he transformed into Arcknight. "Transform!" That light covered Nora and seconds later, a large, headless white and pink Transformer body with armor on the shoulders, arms, legs, and chest plate was standing there. Nora was in a robot suit with the exact same colors. "Head On!" She exclaimed as she jumped into the air and transformed into ahead for the body with its own armor. "Time to do this! Let's see what you got against Valkyria!"

Infestor reacted by firing lasers from his antennae which hit the ground and killed three more Atlesian Military grunts instantly. However, this gave Valkyria the opportunity to slug Infestor in the face. Infestor was a little surprised at the new robot's strength, but that didn't deter the new Combiner as Infestor grew a pair of energy wings from his back and flew into the air. "You will not stop us!" Infestor then summoned a swarm of tiny Insecticons and psychically ordered them to attack the group. Another grunt suffered the fate of being killed on the spot by being eaten alive in mere seconds. The swarm moved back up to make another pass but Wheeljack threw a Shock Mine into the air which succeeded in putting down the swarm.

Infestor roared in anger and descended back onto the ground while firing antennae lasers at the ground which the group dodged, though Ironhide and Wheeljack were knocked back a few feet. Valkyria moved behind the Insecticon Combiner and kicked them in the back. Infestor stumbled but retaliated by backhanding Valkyria to the ground. "So, that's how you want to play it, huh?" Valkyria whispered. She brought out her hammer and grenade launcher. Using the grenade launcher first, Valkyria fired several shots at Infestor, hitting the Combiner. Infestor shrugged it off, proving to be a little tougher than anticipated.

"You think that actually hurts us?" Infestor mocked. "You will be the first we consume!"

"Sorry, but I'm not on the menu!" Valkyria retorted as she swung her hammer with great strength and hit Infestor in the chest, sending waves of electricity through the Combiner, causing great pain and anger. Valkyria didn't stop there as she picked up Infestor and threw them to the ground. Infestor didn't see Valkyria's final attack in which she jumped up and used her hammer as weight and slammed straight into Infestor's chest, creating a small shockwave. When the dust settled, The five Insecticons were laying there instead of Infestor.

"You will pay for this, this." Shrapnel growled as he, his comrades, and the remaining Insecticon drones retreated.

"We did it!" Valkyria cheered. She walked back to the group and transformed back.

"That was awesome, Nora!" Ruby and Yang cheered.

"I must admit, that was something." Blake grinned.

"I'm very proud of you, Nora." Ren smiled. Nora pulled him into a hug which he gladly reciprocated. Lily forced herself into the hug as well.

Meanwhile, the Atlesian Military unit was standing there in utter shock to what they just witnessed. Private Garcia, in particular, was just standing there, unable to fire at the Insecticons. Her mind was saying one thing: If it weren't for the ones called the Autobots, they would all be dead or eaten alive. Easy to say not all of them had Private Garcia's train of thought.

As soon as they came, the Autobots vanished through the portal they arrived from, barely making it through before the Bullhead came down to pick everyone who remained up.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Families & Mini-Cons. Main Hangar. 7:10 am*_

The families and three Mini-Cons were still walking around the base. The families were mainly wondering when their kids were coming back from the mission they were forced to go on. Suddenly, they heard a Bullhead engine. They realized they were right by the main hangar. They opened the door and saw the Bullhead landing and their kids exited it along with less Atlesian Military soldiers than when they left. They figured out something must've happened.

General Ironwood was waiting for any results that they gathered during the mission. Private Garcia ran past him, crying hard. The general's eyes widened a little at seeing a soldier move past him quickly. "Corporal Weir? What happened out there?"

"We lost some of our people to the enemy, sir." Corporal Weir hung his head low.

"How many?" General Ironwood asked quietly.

"Most of the grunts, Captain Prescott, Private Rockwell, and Sergeant Garcia." Corporal Weir answered just as quietly.

"...I see." General Ironwood said. "What was the enemy?"

"Can I tell you privately in your office?" Corporal Weir suggested.

"Of course." General Ironwood agreed.

Right after General Ironwood and Corporal Weir left the main hangar, the kids and Lily were managing to sneak away from the soldiers and exit the main hangar. "Ruby. Yang." Summer whispered loudly.

The kids turned to the source and saw their families and the Mini-Con trio. "Mom!" Ruby smiled.

They ran to their respective parents and siblings with Lily in tow. "Oh, sweetie. Were so glad you're alright." Kali muttered, petting her daughter's head. Blake purred into the touch and nuzzled into her mother's body.

"What happened, son?" Li asked.

"We met the Insecticons." Ren answered somberly.

"Insecticons?" Willow raised an eyebrow.

"Giant robotic insects." Weiss shivered. "We also think they might be more Decepticons. What are you all doing here in this part of the base?"

"These three Mini-Cons helped us escape." Hercules explained. "They, like us are looking for a way out of here."

"Alright." Yang said. "Now, we have to get out of here."

"No." Ruby suddenly spoke up. "Not until I have a chance to wipe Atlas's records of us from their systems. We can't leave Atlas while they know who we are."

"Ruby brings up a good point." Jaune muttered. He had been mostly quiet throughout most of the mission, so him speaking surprised them a tiny bit." While Atlas knows who we all are, we'll be looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives."

"So let's see if we can find a data terminal." Ruby grinned.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. General Ironwood's Quarters. 7:59 am*_

General Ironwood was angry. Hearing about the casualties didn't do him any favors, either. That unit he sent was a good one that got the job done with only one or two casualties. To hear most of the unit get wiped out was causing his blood pressure to almost go through the roof.

Winter was there as well. When she heard about the casualties, she was worrying about her sister and wondering if she was okay. The casualties were upsetting to hear about as well, but Weiss was more important to her.

Corporal Weir told General Ironwood about what happened, mostly. He left out some details regarding the Autobots arriving to help. He did tell him about the robot insects, though.

The general slammed his fists on his desk in anger. "We have to speed up Project: Cyber Warrior." He muttered.

"Sir, are you sure that's wise?" Corporal Weir asked.

"Are you questioning me, Corporal Weir?" General Ironwood growled.

"Of course not, sir." Corporal Weir was unfazed by General Ironwood's growing hostility.

"We have to be ready for the next time we face these things!" General Ironwood declared. "These eight kids hold valuable information they're withholding and we have to get them to extract it by any means."

Suddenly, the alarms sounded, so they all ran out to where the alarm started sounding. When they reached the area where the alarm was sounding, they only caught a portal just disappearing. Winter and Corporal Weir were shocked while General Ironwood was seething. "Excuse me. I'll be in my office." He slowly walked back to his office while Winter worried about Weiss.

_*Vale. Vale Forest. The Ark. 10:23 am*_

The kids, families, and Mini-Con trio just made it through the ground bridge into the Ark. "I managed to erase us from Atlas's systems." Ruby smiled.

"Now, Atlas won't remember who we are." Yang added.

Nora, Thora, and Romulus were talking and Lily was with them. "You don't have a family anymore, do you?" Romulus asked.

Lily nodded in sadness. Thora picked the little girl up and brought her into a tight hug. "Oh, you poor baby."

"Mommy, Daddy, can we adopt her into our family?" Nora suggested.

"That's a good idea." Romulus smiled. "What do you say, Lily? You want to become another little valkyrie?"

Lily broke down in tears but happy tears and hugged the Valkyrie family. While this was going on... "Everyone. These are the Autobots." Jaune introduced. None of the Autobots said anything, but they felt that they didn't have to. The families of the kids who have helped them so much since coming back online now knew about them. This would be the start of something.

* * *

**Hello, everyone. With this, the **_**Insecticon Swarm **_**multi-parter is finished. A few things happened in this part:**

**The five Insecticons combined into Infestor which makes Infestor the second Combiner in Dustformers so far. Infestor's head is the head of Beast Wars Inferno but black with purple eyes and gold antennae. He can summon a swarm of tiny Insecticons to either attack opponents or surround him like a mobile shield. He can also fire lasers from his antennae. He also has a pair of energy insect wings. Like Kamakiri and Thrillipede, the Combiner Infestor belongs to my newest OC contributor: D3ADPOOLK1d. I give special thanks for the contribution. Get this though, actual Transformers has never, ever had an Insecticon Combiner before. Think about that if you want to.**

**Going back to the Insecticons for a second, I know I only brought in basic drones from the _Fall of Cybertron_, but others will show up later in Dustformers.**

**Nora, with her determination to protect Lily, her friends, and even the remaining Atlesian Military unit has sparked the power allowing her to become her own Headmaster: Valkyria! Her Transtector body is white and pink, complete with a Hammer and a Grenade Launcher. Betcha Nora loves being able to become a Transformer just like Jaune. I wonder who will gain this power next.**

**The kids and soldiers are able to defeat Infestor with the help of Autobots Wheeljack, Ironhide, Zig, Zag, Full-Throttle, and Wildfire. Corporal Matthew Weir, Specialist Erica Flora, Private Dixon Spyke, Private Cassie Rayne, and Private Carrol Garica have had their first experience with the Transformers. Now, it's up to them to decide what they'll do with this new information and experience.**

**Speaking of the Autobots: Wheeljack finally finished the Ground Bridge, meaning the Autobots can travel anywhere in Remnant. That will be mighty useful as it means they'll no longer be confined to Vale.**

**When the kids get back to Atlas Military HQ, they sneak away and find their families with the three Mini-Cons. Reunited, they manage to escape Atlas and head back to Vale, but not before Ruby hacks in and wipes all of their information Atlas has gathered about them out of Atlas's systems.**

**General Ironwood's blood pressure is rising that he's decided to speed up Project: Cyber Warrior. Who knows how that will go further down the line.**

**Keeping with Wheeljack, he brought a new toy called Shock Mines which electrocute enemies on contact.**

**Finally, Lily is adopted by the Valkyries and becomes Nora's little sister.**

**In the end, the families get introduced to the rest of the Autobots, excluding Ratchet who's still in his quarters.**

**As usual, if you have any ideas for _Dustformers: Season 2_, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.**


	6. Progress

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2. **_**The multi-parter **_**Insecticon Swarm **_**is finished, but that doesn't mean everything's peaches and gravy.**

**1: In Atlas, General Ironwood has made the rash decision to speed up Project: Cyber Warrior ahead of schedule. Who knows where that could lead. Winter, on the other hand, is worried about Weiss and wondering if she's alright. Not to mention that a small number of Atlesian soldiers have seen the Transformers. Either some will talk and some will not, or no one tells a soul.**

**2: The Insecticons are on Remnant. Even though they were defeated now, they never stay down for long as is evident with everything they're in. Who knows when or if they'll join up with Megatron.**

**There are a couple of good things that have happened, though:**

**1: Nora, through her determination to protect her friends, family, Lily, the Autobots, and Remnant has gained the power to become a Headmaster named Valkyria, managing to defeat the Insecticon Combiner Infestor. Not only that, she and her family adopt Lily.**

**2: They managed to escape Atlas quickly after Ruby erased all the data Atlas gathered on them.**

**cryo threshold: Tripredacus wasn't really a full Insect Combiner because it has a lobster involved and lobsters are crustaceans, not insects. To answer your second question, yes, the Headmasters will have alternate modes very soon.**

**Now, let's get back to the story!**

* * *

_*Vale. Valkyrie Residence. 6:32 am*_

It had been a few days since escaping Atlas. Nora was happy that they were able to adopt Lily into the family. Nora always wanted a little sister, though she wanted one with far less scary circumstances.

Lily was feeling a little happier than she had been in the past few days. She may have almost been killed by the Insecticons, but Nora Valkyrie saved her and brought her into her family who were more than willing to accept her. She slowly woke up in her new room. She was still getting used to her new surroundings.

Nora gently walked in to see her new little sister. "Morning, Lily. How are you doing?" She asked softly.

"I'm okay, Nora," Lily said softly with a smile.

"That's good. I'm glad you're liking it here with us." Nora smiled. "I was worried you wouldn't."

"Nora, I feel safe with you after seeing you become a giant robot." Lily smiled back.

The valkyrie's face suddenly gained a grin. "Yeah. That was really awesome, wasn't it?"

Lily giggled. "Oh, yeah! You beat that giant insect robot!"

Suddenly, Thora and Romulus walked in. "How are you adjusting, Lily?" Thora asked.

"I'm doing well, Ms. Valkyrie." Lily smiled. "Much better now that I have a family again."

Before Nora could say anything further, she got a call on her scroll. _"Hey, Nora," Ren said through the scroll. "Wheeljack wants you to come to meet up with us at the Ark. The Autobots want to know about the insect robots we fought in Anima."_

"Okay." Nora acknowledged. "Sorry, guys. I have to go."

"Just be careful, Nora," Romulus said softly.

"I will, Daddy," Nora whispered as she left her house. Once out of the house, a portal appeared right in front of her. She walked through it and it disappeared.

_*Vale. The Ark. 7:01 am*_

The Autobots and kids were back at the Ark discussing the robot insects. "So it is true: The Insecticons have reached this planet." Optimus sighed.

"What are the Insecticons exactly?" Weiss asked.

"Believe it or not, the Insecticons are a natural form of Cybertronian life that dwell deep within the planet. They're all connected by a singular hive mind" Hound explained. "There are all kinds of Insecticons, but there are certain members of the species were more evolved with individual minds and their own unique powers. At some point before the fall of Cybertron, the Decepticon Shockwave stumbled upon the Insecticons and recruited them into the Decepticons. Under the command of Shockwave, he experimented on them, creating new kinds of Insecticons. If there's a whole hive here on Remnant, we mustn't let them join up with Megatron."

"I get it now," Weiss said. "So that's why they were so animalistic. They're a natural life-form from Cybertron."

"Not to mention five of them combined into a robot similar to Grimmlord named Infestor," Blake added.

"Wait! Five of them combined?" Hound was a little astonished hearing that.

"Yes, but I gained the same power Jaune has: The power to Transform!" Nora happily exclaimed.

Hearing that put Optimus Prime in deep thought. _"Jaune gained the power to transform at the battle at Vale's Beachfront. Now, Nora has the exact same power. What triggers it?"_

"Optimus, where's Snipewing?" Pyrrha asked.

"She's sitting out in the forest," Optimus answered.

"Thank you," Pyrrha said. She walked to where the Autobot was while the others remained.

"How are you doing, Jaune?" Zig asked softly.

"I'm fine, Zig," Jaune muttered, not looking at her face.

"You sure?" Zig pressed a little.

"I said I'm fine." Jaune repeated.

Optimus looked at Jaune in sympathy. He could understand Jaune's pain. His friends were still very worried about the blonde knight.

_*Vale. Vale Forest. Pyrrha and Snipewing. 8:32 am*_

Pyrrha had found Snipewing sitting on a rock looking at the sun. "Snipewing. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing ok, Pyrrha." Snipewing turned to look at Pyrrha. "I-I just miss Bumblebee."

Pyrrha noticed the black stripes on Snipewing's yellow patches. "You're honoring him which is a great thing to do after his sacrifice."

Snipewing sighed. "It was a sacrifice that shouldn't have been made. How's Jaune?"

This time, Pyrrha sighed with evident sadness. "He's not handling it well. He's been depressed for the last two months. He doesn't hang out with us, when he's at school, he's completely immersed in his work. Not to say that's a bad thing, his grades are going up, but he doesn't smile as much, and even when he does, it's only for a few minutes at best."

"I see. Did you follow my advice?" Snipewing asked.

"Um… not yet, and now, this girl named Tammy Goldberg is already putting the moves on him," Pyrrha informed.

This caused Snipewing to sigh again. "Pyrrha. Remember what I told you: If you wait too long, the chance to be with the one you want to be with will slip through your fingers."

"I know. I just get too nervous." Pyrrha admitted.

"I know how that feels." Snipewing chuckled. She began to tear up again. "At least you still have a chance to get the one you want in your lifetime."

"Don't be so sure," Pyrrha said. "There's another girl that I think is starting to move in on him."

"Really?" Snipewing asked.

Pyrrha sighed again. "Yeah. I know I said I'd take your advice, but I'm just too damn nervous."

"It'll be okay, Pyrrha." Snipewing reassured. "There will also be the right time."

"You think so?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah. I think so." Snipewing smiled. This was the first time she smiled in a couple of months.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Hypnotica's Quarters. 10:11 am*_

Hypnotica and Abysswing were once again in her quarters. Hypnotica was once again lamenting over the fact that Shockwave was with them now. "You need to keep calm, my dear," Abysswing said calmly.

"I understand that, but seeing him here all the time just hits me right here." Hypnotica pointed to her spark chamber.

"You just have to deal with it and besides, you've got me now," Abysswing assured.

"That I do." Hypnotica snuggled to her sparkmate.

"Besides that, how are you feeling?" Abysswing asked.

"Besides Shockwave being here, I'm alright," Hypnotica answered. "My spark has been feeling a little weird lately."

"Now that you mention it, the same thing has been going on with my spark," Abysswing said.

"What do you think it is?" Hypnotica asked. Just after she spoke, there was a bright light that engulfed them both.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Winter's Quarters. 12:23 pm*_

Winter was not really having a good day. Since her sister, her friends, and their families escaped through that mysterious portal, General Ironwood had been in a frenzy of controlled rage. He even ordered Project: Cyber Warrior be sped up.

She still firmly believed that Atlas and all of Remnant should have the power to defend itself, especially since they realized they aren't alone in the universe. However, she quietly objected against General Ironwood speeding up of Project: Cyber Warrior since this was a delicate project.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. "Specialist Schnee. It's Corporal Weir." He said through the door.

"Come in, Corporal." Winter replied.

With that, Corporal Weir walked in with a troubled look on his face. "What seems to be bothering you, Corporal Weir?"

"Well, it's the mission in Anima…" Corporal Weir started.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Hypnotica's Quarters. 12:53 pm*_

Hypnotica and Abysswing were sitting with their new sparklings. "Welcome to the world, Bloodsurge, Abyssica." Hypnotica smiled.

Bloodsurge and Abyssica bowed. "Thank you, mother."

Bloodsurge was black and silver with a little red and purple, just like his mother. He also had bat wings and claws.

Abyssica was more like her father in color, mainly being black and white with red in small places. She had Nevermore wings.

"Believe it or not, we're on another planet," Abysswing said.

"Interesting," Abyssica said. "What is on this planet?"

Hypnotica's eyes shone a little brighter. "The Autobots."

"The Autobots are here?" Bloodsurge growled.

"Yes, and Lord Megatron is here with other Decepticons and we are working to destroy the Autobots and their leader: Optimus Prime," Abysswing added.

"Then we will destroy them." Bloodsurge assured.

_*Anima. Small Town. 14:32 pm*_

The Atlesian Military were back in the small town where the massacre took place, collecting up the dead Insecticons to hopefully learn more. Appendages were being loaded onto smaller 'Wisp'-class transports while whole Insecticons were put onto the Bullheads, getting ready to be hauled away to Atlas.

There were fluids from the Insecticons covering the town structures and the ground. Some of the soldiers had curious minds regarding the fluids as one of them was neon blue. One of them brought out a small vial and took a bit of the neon blue liquid and hid it in a compartment on his uniform. "Hhmm… I wonder what this stuff is."

"Come on, cadet! You're falling behind." One of the superior officers shouted.

"Sorry, sir!" The cadet shouted back as he started running back to the ship. No one saw the vial in his uniform.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Project: Cyber Warrior Hangar. 17:45 pm*_

General Ironwood was once again looking over Project: Cyber Warrior. Since he ordered the project to be sped up, the Atlas Military Techs have been doing their best to keep up with the general's instructions. Some of them were tired, to say the least.

"How is it coming, Dr. Hudson?" General Ironwood asked.

"We finally finished the neural interface on Iron Phantom. All we need is for someone to pilot it." Dr. Hudson answered.

General Ironwood smiled. "Excellent work, Dr. Hudson. Anything else to report?"

"Yes, actually." Dr. Hudson added. "We're halfway through completing three new robots: Argyos, Snowbreak, and Chillblade."

"Very good news." General Ironwood's smile grew. "I already have a good solider to pilot Iron Phantom if he can handle the neural interface."

_*Vale. Vale City. Arc Residence. Jaune's Room. 18:45 pm*_

Jaune had just finished his dinner and immediately went to his room. He was once again at his desk doing his homework. He finished it soon enough, though, so he was just sitting around not really doing anything.

He was actually beginning to doze off when someone once again knocked on his door. "Who is it?" He asked.

"It's Roslyn." She said from the other side of the door.

Jaune sighed for the seventh time today. "Come in."

Roslyn walked in and sat on his bed. "How are you doing today?" She asked.

"Do I really have to answer that? I mean you and the rest of our family know about the Transformers and I didn't want any of you to become involved." Jaune explained.

"Jaune, that's sweet, but what's done is done." Roslyn reminded.

"Yeah. We're just lucky Ruby wiped all information the Atlas Military had on us." Jaune stated.

"I also saw how you reacted a couple times when we were in Atlas." Roslyn brought up. "You actually growled. You don't do that."

"Atlas is wrong! If they find the Autobots, they'll dissect them and rob us of the one thing that can stop the Decepticons." Jaune said.

"That doesn't really make me forget how you got in Atlas." Roslyn pressed.

"Like I said, Atlas tried to attack the Decepticons and utterly failed. Now that we escaped, General Ironwood and other higher-ups must be going crazy, especially since the mission in Anima ended with more KIAs." Jaune retorted.

"Still, I think you have to talk to your friends about this and spend more time outside the house." Roslyn said.

Jaune again, thought about it for a minute. Violet said the same thing. He'd actually disregarded his own sister's advice. That made him feel guilty. "Okay, Roslyn."

"That's all I ask. We just want you to be happy again." Roslyn was beginning to tear up. Jaune brought her in for a hug.

"I'm really trying, but it's so hard." Jaune was crying right now. After the hug, Roslyn quietly left Jaune's room. He dozed off again and fell asleep.

_*Jaune's Dream.*_

Jaune was once again in a white void. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

"_**Jaune Arc…" **_A voice spoke. The blonde knight turned to see a red, blue, yellow, and white robot with blue eyes, a faceplate that looked taller than Optimus Prime holding a large sword staring directly at him.

Jaune was wide-eyed. He was a little intimidated to say the least. "W-Who are you?" The robot said nothing and unleashed a burst of light, making Jaune cover his eyes.

_*Remnant. Jaune's Room.*_

He woke up sweating a little bit. "What was that?" He asked himself quietly.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. Decepticon Headquarters. Shockwave's Laboratory. 21:32 pm*_

Shockwave was still tinkering away in his project. "This will be a pinnacle in the destruction of the Autobots." He said, "You will be the ultimate Autobot hunter."

In his laboratory was a tall cylinder with a monstrous robotic form submerged in yellow liquid. "CNA: Building blocks of all Cybertronian life. You will be one of my masterpieces."

_*Vale. Vale Meadow Near the caverns. 1:12 am*_

It was a pleasant night this time. However, something was smoking near the caverns. Suddenly, a glow of bright red shone in the darkness. "M-M-Me Grimlock…." The figure growled.

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hope you all liked this new chapter/episode of **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. Hound has explained what the Insecticons are.**

**At Decepticon Headquarters, Hypnotica, and Abysswing have had a sparkling named Bloodsurge, adding a brand-new Decepticon into the ranks Bloodsurge has the same structure and alternate mode as his mother, but has his father's pale white complexion with some blood red thrown into the color mix.**

**With Shockwave though, he's working on his first project since arriving on Remnant. What could it possibly be?.**

**The Atlesian Military have been collecting the dead Insecticon bodies from the small town in Anima in hopes to learn more. Meanwhile, one of the young cadets takes out a vial and fills with Energon, though he nor the entirety of the Atlas Military know it's Energon. Speaking of the Atlesian Military, we have a new character: Dr. Lewis Hudson who is a tech on Project: Cyber Warrior.**

**Also, what is Corporal Matthew Weir going to tell Winter about the mission in Anima**

**Back in Vale, Jaune's friends and family remember the way he acted when they were in Atlas: Either talking aggressively to people besides his friends and family or finding a dark corner to sit and brood in.**

**Finally, Shockwave is cooking something up in cyber-nucleic acid. What could this be? Will you get what this references to?**

**Not to mention, the figure in the cave said Grimlock. THEY'RE HERE!**

**Oh! Before I forget, a little cameo of a character from **_**Transformers: Victory **_**showing up in Jaune's dream.**

**As usual, if you have any ideas for **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me. I've seen some really good ideas in the reviews so far as well as OCs, so I'm interested to see and read them.**

**Author's Notes #1: Rwby Volume 7 is done as the finale came out today. All I'm going to say is things have gone from bad to worse. Now, we wait for the eighth volume.**


	7. Plans Being Made

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. Things have happened in the last chapter/episode.**

**Shockwave is working on something that's from **_**Transformers: Prime**_**. I hope people will like it when it's time.**

**Corporal Matthew Weir has entered Winter Schnee's quarters to talk to her about something. Who knows what it is.**

**Project: Cyber Warrior has been sped up with good results so far. Iron Phantom has been completed while Argyos, Snowbreak, and Chillblade works in progress.**

* * *

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Private Lodestone's Quarters. 2:01 am*_

Private Lodestone was feeling okay despite testing out the neural interface with the robot: Iron Phantom. The doctors immediately checked him out after the testing and found nothing wrong with him, so they gave him a clean bill of health. However, they did tell him to come to do a check-up every two days as a precaution which was reasonable. General Ironwood knocked on his door. "Private Lodestone."

Private Lodestone walked over and opened the door for his commanding officer. "General, sir." He saluted.

"At ease, Private Lodestone." General Ironwood chuckled. "You did a great job in Iron Phantom."

"Thank you, sir." Private Lodestone smiled. "It was my honor to pilot the first creation of Project: Cyber Warrior. I've heard that three more robots are being created as we speak, sir."

"Indeed. You heard right. Soon, we will be able to defend Remnant from this threat!" General Ironwood declared.

"I can hardly wait, sir." Private Lodestone agreed.

"Since you passed the initial testing, from this point forward, you are the official pilot of Iron Phantom." General Ironwood put his hand on Private Lodestone's shoulder.

"Thank you, sir." Private Lodestone said. "I will do my very best."

_*Vale. Vale City. Blake & Pursuit. 6:12 am*_

Blake and Pursuit were enjoying a simple, early morning drive. "I'm glad your family accepts me." Pursuit said.

"Same here, Pursuit." Blake smiled. "It also helps that you're my guardian."

"How is Mr. Arc faring?" Pursuit asked.

"The same as he's been for the last two months. Saddened, prone to anger, lashes out at certain people. We saw evidence of this when we were in Atlas." Blake explained.

"That is saddening to hear." Pursuit sighed as they continued driving.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Winter Schnee's Quarters. 8:09 am*_

Winter had heard the results of Iron Phantom's neural interface testing and was still slightly happy to hear it was a success, but she still thought it shouldn't have been sped up. This could have serious repercussions later down the line. She was more so worried about Weiss back in Vale. Was she alright? Were all of these alien robots as bad as General Ironwood was making them out to be? The questions kept piling up.

She got up and went out for some air. Hopefully, that would clear her head.

_*Vale. Vale Meadow. Near the caverns. 11:56 am*_

Six large figures were sitting around in the caves near their ship. "I still can't believe we're here on this planet." One of them said in a deep voice.

"Believe it." Another replied in a much lighter voice. "Question is: Is he here?"

"He must be." The third figure added in a female voice. "Why else would our ship crash us here?"

"Another question is are there other Autobots here?" A fourth figure asked.

"We don't need them." The lead figure growled in a raspy tone. "Sludge, Swoop, Slash, Snarl, Slug, we're enough to take him down."

"Grimlock. We have to face the facts that we're going to need help if we run into him again."

"Other Autobots are weaklings. They run when they should fight." Grimlock growled again. "We can take care of Shockwave on our own."

"You don't know that for sure." Swoop interjected. "We don't even know if he's on this planet."

"He's here. I can feel it in my circuits." Grimlock snarled.

_*Vale. Vale City. Beacon High. 13:21 pm*_

Jaune and Tammy had just finished their science class. Jaune was actually smiling right now. At this point, Jaune smiling was a rarity in itself. "Thanks for being my partner, Tammy," Jaune said.

"No problem, Jaune." Tammy smiled.

"You know, you're a pretty good partner." Jaune complimented.

Tammy blushed a little. "Aww, I only did my best."

"That's all anyone can do," Jaune added. "It's a standard principle."

"I'm happy I can make you smile." Tammy leaned into Jaune's side.

Jaune blushed at this. "U-Uh, I'm g-glad for t-that, t-too."

Tammy giggled in response. She always found it cute when Jaune stuttered. "Hey, maybe you want to hang out on the weekend?"

"That should be okay with my folks, but I'll ask them just in case." Jaune said.

"Alright! If it's okay, see you then." Tammy smiled. She then walked off leaving Jaune at his locker with a smile on his face. While he was walking to his next class, Pyrrha caught up to him.

"Hello, Jaune. You're smiling again." Pyrrha noticed. "Why is that?"

"Oh, just that Tammy and I were talking again." Jaune smiled.

Pyrrha's look became a little downtrodden at hearing that. "Oh. I see."

Jaune did notice this and put a hand on her shoulder. "Pyrrha, are you ok?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah. I'm okay. I just wish you would let us in a little more." Pyrrha stuttered. She began tearing up and brought Jaune into a hug. "I know it's been hard for you, but remember, you have friends and family that will love you no matter what and is always ready to help you."

Jaune began tearing up at hearing that. "I-I know, Pyrrha. You have no idea how happy I am to have that. You and the others are the best people I've ever met in my entire life."

Pyrrha regained a smile while holding Jaune in her embrace. There may be hope for her yet.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Main Hangar. 17:21 pm*_

Private Carrol Garcia had snuck out of her quarters and made her way to the main hangar. She saw a small ship that would fit her needs. "Going somewhere, Private Garcia?" Corporal Weir asked. Private Garcia turned around to see Corporal Weir, Private Bueller, and Private Spyke standing behind her.

"What are you three doing here?" Private Garcia whispered. "Are you three here to stop me?"

"Stop you? We're going with you." Private Spyke smiled. "General Ironwood's sped up Project: Cyber Warrior. It's all he's been thinking about for a long while now. We've seen that not all of these robots are here to destroy us. We have to find those robots that helped us back in Anima."

"What if they don't want to see us?" Private Bueller brought up.

"They have to know what the general's doing. He's not really thinking straight." Private Garcia voiced.

"You three do know the second we leave, we'll probably be listed as fugitives, slated for incarceration." Corporal Weir reminded.

"I don't think that matters when the general is off his rocker." Private Spyke commented. "So, we're all in agreement, then?"

"Yep." Corporal Weir, Private Bueller, and Private Garcia agreed. With that, they made their way to the shuttle and barely managed to escape the main hangar under fire. Now, they were heading to Vale, determined to find the Autobots. They had to find them to repay them somehow.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Shockwave's Quarters. 20:01 pm*_

Shockwave's project was nearing it's completion. He had managed to accelerate the results considerably. He walked over to the tube and put his hand on it. "Very soon, my creation. Soon, you will be able to be the ultimate Autobot hunter." He said stoically as he left his laboratory. The robotic creature inside the tube opened it's eyes which turned out to be yellow and let out a low growling sound.

Once he left his quarters, Starscream caught him on the way out. Starscream had a disgusted look on his face as always.

"Why do you follow a complete idiot like Megatron?" Starscream asked the one-eyed Decepticon.

"Lord Megatron is the most logical choice for our leader," Shockwave answered.

"I would be a much better and more successful leader than Megatron ever will be." Starscream boasted. "You should know that in your spark."

"Highly doubtful, Starscream. You just don't have the same viciousness and relentlessness as Megatron. You wouldn't be able to lead us for a day without screwing everything up. Unlike you, Megatron has clarity." Shockwave explained.

"Why you ungrateful excuse for a scientist! Was that your thought-out hypothesis?" Starscream mocked.

"No. That's just common fact." Shockwave deadpanned.

That got Starscream right in the spark. He'd never been insulted by Shockwave like that before. He attempted to punch Shockwave in the face, but Shockwave deflected the punch, brought Starscream down to the ground, and pointed his gun arm directly at his spark chamber.

"Feel fortunate that you have use to Lord Megatron. Otherwise, I would extinguish your spark right here and now." Shockwave threatened plainly.

" You should feel fortunate that I haven't taken you to the scrapheap." Starscream angrily retorted.

"Like you could ever take me down, Starscream." Shockwave deadpanned as he walked off.

Starscream growled as he got up and stomped off to his own quarters. "No one humiliates me, Starscream like that and gets away with it. Once I lead the Decepticons, they'll all respect me."

_*Vale. Vale Forest. The Ark. Ratchet's Quarters. 00:12 am*_

Ratchet was sitting at his desk working on something. Whatever it was, it had a green color to it and was in a tube. He wore a face of pure determination. "We need to be at the top of our game. Our survival depends upon it." He said. Suddenly, he got up and put the tube in a cabinet filled with other tubes filled with the same green substance.

"No other Autobots will die on my watch. I'll make certain of it." Ratchet added.

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hope you all like this newest chapter/episode of _Dustformers: Season 2_. Grimlock and the Dinobots are beginning to plan their move against Shockwave.**

**Jaune seems to be hanging out with Tammy more, much to Pyrrha's growing dismay. Tammy also seems to be putting more of the moves on the blonde knight. However, Pyrrha will play the game as well.**

**Project: Cyber Warrior has had its first successful test of the neural interface with Private Lodestone. General Ironwood is of course impressed with private Lodestone and has offered him the position of the pilot of Iron Phantom. I wonder how that will affect the war.**

**Speaking of Atlas, Private Carrol Garcia, Private Dixon Spyke, Corporal Matthew Weir, and Private Mitch Bueller have snuck themselves out of Atlas heading to Vale, determined to find the Autobots.**

**The bad news is that Shockwave's project is nearing completion. This will change things once it's completed. We also see Starscream's side that we all know and love. I apologize for taking this long to bring it out, but it's coming out now.**

**We also finally drop into Ratchet's Quarters to see how the poor medic's doing. It looks like he's working on something of his own as he's locked himself in there since Bumblebee's death. Like with Jaune, the guilt of being unable to save Bumblebee has been eating away at him.**

**As usual, if anyone has any OCs or story ideas, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me. I'm happy for all the support my stories are getting and I hope it continues.**


	8. Let The Hunt Begin

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. Shockwave's project is nearing completion which is obviously a very, very bad sign. Who knows what havoc it will wreak upon Remnant.**

**Adding to that, The Dinobots are on Remnant and are planning their next move against Shockwave. Well, mainly Grimlock is and is absolutely not listening to any of his team who are trying to get him to see reason. Come on, it's Grimlock. Getting him of all Autobots to see reason is very difficult.**

**Private Dixon Spyke, Private Carrol Garcia, Private Mitch Bueller, and Corporal Matthew Weir sneak out of Atlas and are headed to Vale to try and find the Autobots. General Ironwood won't be happy to find this out. Not to mention that Winter is questioning the general and is worried about Weiss.**

**Jaune Arc and Tammy Goldberg seem to be getting closer, much to Pyrrha's dismay, but she's not out of it yet. Tammy has a headstart, though.**

**I give credit to my OC/story idea contributors throughout the story.**

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

D3ADPOOLK1d

invictus113

Optimus912001

Perseus12

Sithlord-666

Lordofuselesness

TomtomtheWriter

Mol2311

**These people give me ideas for chapters I work on and for future ideas and for that, I deeply thank them. I hope for their continued support.**

**Now, let's jump right into the action!**

* * *

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Shockwave's Quarters. 4:10 am*_

Shockwave had tinkered all night working on various projects, mostly with the robotic form in the tube. He had gotten ahead on these various projects, but the one in the tube was finally ready. "At last. You are complete."

The creature growled lowly in response to Shockwave's words. Pressing a couple of buttons, the tube began filtering all the liquid out.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Main Conference Chamber. 5:21 am*_

All the Decepticons were gathered by Shockwave's request. "Wonder what the top scientist wants all of us here to see," Thundercracker whispered.

"We'll just have to wait and see," Skywarp whispered back.

"Whatever it is, it'll probably fail miserably." Starscream mocked.

"If that were the case, how come Shockwave has killed more Autobots than you." Strikecharge brought up, making the Seeker sputter.

"Shockwave is one of the most valuable Decepticons. Unlike some of my other warriors, he's never failed me." Megatron reminded.

"Thank you for coming, Lord Megatron. All of you." Shockwave said walking into the room.

"Alright, Shockwave. What do you have that will amaze us?" Octoshock asked.

"Yeah, it better be something good." Trap Widow added.

"Decepticons, may I present the ultimate Autobot Hunter." Shockwave introduced. Seconds later, thunderous footsteps were approaching the room. Then, something big walked in. The Decepticons were utterly shocked at what they were seeing. It had sharp claws, large wings, a quadrupedal form, sharp teeth, yellow eyes, and a pointed head. Megatron was not so much fearful of this new creature but intrigued as its wings unfolded and let out a small roar.

"Incredible." Cindershot whispered in intrigue.

"A Predacon?!" Starscream shouted. "I thought they were extinct!"

"Not a true Predacon. This specimen was born in a laboratory." Shockwave explained.

"It does my spark good to see you tampering with creation once again, Shockwave." Megatron smiled.

"This thing looks awesome!" Flamewar exclaimed.

"The Predacon can be used to track down the Autobots and destroy them." Shockwave then held out a bit of Energon in a small container. "A sample of Autobot Energon. This will be enough for it to track them" The Predacon viewed the container and it's eyes glowed a little brighter.

"Then let the hunt begin." Megatron grinned.

_*Vale. Vale City. Arc Residence. 7:13 am*_

The kids and their families were hanging out at Jaune's house. The kids were in Jaune's room while their families and siblings were outside for the time being. "I wonder why the Decepticons haven't made a move yet." Yang pondered.

"Maybe they're biding their time, waiting for the right moment to attack." Blake answered.

"Perhaps a new Decepticon has joined their ranks. We can't rule that out." Ren brought up.

"Let's try to not think about that, Renny." Nora said. "That's a worst-case scenario."

"What do you think, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune shook his head for a minute. "Sorry, guys. I spaced out for a minute." He rubbed his head a little sheepishly. "I'm equally concerned about the Decepticons and the Atlas Military."

Weiss hung her head down a little. "Winter..." She whispered.

Ruby walked over and hugged Weiss. "Weiss, your sister seems like a really tough cookie. She must be alright."

Weiss began crying. "She must be worried sick about me and Mother."

"I'm sure Winter will listen to her heart instead of her orders from General Ironwood." Ruby tried to assure.

Weiss hugged Ruby back while still crying. "Thank you, Ruby."

"No offense to your sister or Atlas, Weiss, but General Ironwood is kind of a nutcase." Yang commented.

"Are you kidding, Yang?" Jaune asked rhetorically. "The man basically threatened us and our families into helping him as he wants to know about the Transformers just so he can kill them all without ever asking which are good and bad. Not to mention that when the Atlas Military tried fighting the Decepticons at Vale's Beachfront, they did nothing to harm them and got wiped out. Plus, this Project: Cyber Warrior has me even more worried than before."

"You're rambling, Jaune." Ren deadpanned.

"Sorry, its just that we know the Atlas Military is as big a threat to us as well as the Decpeticons." Jaune finished.

"Well, you're not wrong there, but remember that Rubes here wiped any knowledge they had on us off their database." Yang reminded. "Plus, Wheeljack finally got the ground bridge working. Now, how're things with you and a certain Tammy Goldberg?"

Pyrrha subtly tensed at Yang's question while Jaune blushed a little at Tammy being mentioned. "Tammy and I are just fine. We're hanging out often. She's a good friend. Not my best friend like all of you, of course."

"Would you say she's the one for you?" Yang wiggled her eyebrows. Pyrrha tensed up more at that.

"No, I wouldn't say that. It's still too early to tell." Jaune said truthfully which made Pyrrha relax.

_*Vale. Vale Forest. The Ark. Main Lobby. 9:45 am*_

Optimus Prime was looking at Teletraan-1's monitor for any sign of recent Decepticon activity as they've been quiet for a while. The last time this happened, a Decepticon Cruiser entered Remnant, a battle at Vale's Beachfront took place, and Bumblebee was killed in action. That alone broke Jaune, Snipewing, and Ratchet who had not come out of his quarters since then.

"Optimus, are you okay?" Elita-1 asked walking on.

"Yes, Elita." Optimus replied. "Just thinking?"

"About Bumblebee?" Elita correctly guessed.

Optimus sighed knowing he wouldn't evade Elita-1 for very long. "Yes. It still haunts me that I couldn't save him, just like all the Autobots I failed to save."

Elita hugged her sparkmate. "Optimus, it wasn't your fault. The Decepticons are relentless. They won't stop until every last one of us are dead."

"His death has broken Snipewing and Ratchet. We're gonna need them." Optimus said.

"Don't forget poor Jaune." Elita whispered sadly. "He is the most broken of the three."

"Optimus, we just found some Energon!" Wheeljack exclaimed running in.

"Where, Wheeljack?" Optimus asked.

"In the Hekta Mountains." Wheeljack responded.

_*Hekta. Hekta Mountains. 12:22 pm*_

Ironhide, Wildfire, Pursuit, Full-Throttle, and Hound drove through the Ground Bridge with the kids in tow. "So, these are the Hekta Mountains. A decent landscape." Ren stated.

"Not many people actually come to the Hekta Mountains. Though, some people do come to the forest before this mountain range to have camping trips." Weiss added.

"Let's find the Energon and bring it back," Blake said. With that, they began exploring the place for Energon. However, they heard a flapping sound. "What's that sound?"

That was answered very quickly as the Predacon came into view. It let out a ferocious roar just before it breathed fire at the Autobots and kids who barely made it to cover behind a few boulders. It let out another roar. "A dragon?! How the hell did the Decepti-creeps get a dragon?!" Nora screamed.

"Nora, what's a dragon?" Ironhide asked.

"A huge, flying, fire-breathing lizard!" Nora exclaimed bringing her hands to her face.

"Whatever it is, we've got to take it down!" Wildfire shouted.

"How? It's in the air right now! We have to find a way to bring it down!" Hound reminded.

Full-Throttle then got an idea. He grabbed a grenade and threw it as high as he could. Seconds after that, he shot it, causing it to explode and hit the Predacon. It didn't do much though except make it go to the ground. It hit the ground with a powerful force. "Come and get some, beast!" Full-Throttle shouted.

He fired at the Predacon which did little but irritate it a little as it swung its tail at him, knocking him back a few feet. Wildfire took a chance and jumped onto the Predacon, but the beast detected this and rolled onto it's back which prompted Wildfire to jump out of the way. Before Wildfire could attack, she got grabbed into the Predacon's mouth and thrown into a mountain wall.

Hound managed to land a couple of hits on the Predacon before being thrown at the mountain. He transformed to vehicle mode before that, but it wasn't enough to evade the next attack which involved him being thrown a little high into a mountain wall and falling back down to the ground, hard.

Pursuit brought out his Energon Glaive and attempted to strike the Predacon, only to have the large beast swing its tail. Pursuit jumped out of the way and performed a reverse slash making a tiny cut before the Predacon slammed him to the ground which made him wince in pain.

Ironhide punched the Predacon, actually hurting it a tiny bit. "Let's rock." He said. The Predacon roared as it charged Ironhide who ran towards the opponent. The Predacon attempted to bite Ironhide, but the old Autobot managed to dodge in time and land another punch to its faceplate. Breathing fire, the Predacon tried to roast Ironhide, but a well-shot grenade from Nora gave her guardian the opportunity for Ironhide to dodge the fire. However, the Predacon

"We're not even scratching it!" CLUTCH exclaimed.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, CLUTCH!" Full-Throttle exclaimed back.

"How are we gonna deal with this thing?!" Yang screamed.

Suddenly, a ground bridge opened up and the Autobots and kids ran through it. It closed seconds before the Predacon could follow them through. It flew into the sky and roared.

_*Vale. Vale Forest. The Ark. 13:01 pm*_

"You're saying you fought a robot dragon?" Wheeljack asked.

"Yep," Ruby said, popping the p. "That's exactly what we're saying."

"It beat five Autobots down with little to no effort," Weiss recalled.

"Hearing that is scary," Zig admitted.

"Hmmm..." Optimus pondered.

"What is it, Optimus?" Elita asked.

"I have to think about this. This sounds familiar to a couple of things I read back on Cybertron long ago." Optimus muttered as he walked off.

"Anyway, are you all okay?" Snipewing asked.

"Snipewing, they must be okay since they're here." Bolt added. They were all thinking the exact same thing: Where did that robot dragon come from? Why was it here? Why did it suddenly attack them without reason? Was this it or was this only the beginning of something?

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hope you liked _Let The Hunt Begin_! The Predacon: Predaking is here which is very, very bad news for the protagonists. He's how he was when he was first introduced in season 3 of _Prime_. Despite that, Predaking's the same as Grimlock in the sense that he's wicked awesome! Predaking essentially kicked the Autobot's asses this chapter and without transforming. Ironhide withstood the Predacon the longest, but he still got his aft kicked. This may only be the beginning of this project of Shockwave's.**

**Hekta is an OL (Original Location) of mine for this story. It's a forested/mountainous terrain that not many people travel to and with apparent Energon in the mountains themselves. How did that happen? We'll find that out later in the story.**

**I'm glad the OC/Story idea contributor's list I'm keeping track of is increasing steadily. I'm happy you are willing to give me ideas. credit for your ideas goes to you all except my own ideas. I hope it continues to increase throughout this story.**

**As always, if anyone has any OCs/story ideas, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me. If you have any Predacon ideas, the same thing applies.**


	9. Searching

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to Dustformers: Season 2. In the last chapter/episode, Predaking fought the Autobots and beat them down at Hekta Mountain. I took a small break from writing because of work, but hopefully, I'll be able to divert my time more to my stories.**

**Once again, I'd like to thank all my contributors: (OCs/Story Ideas)**

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

D3ADPOOLK1d

invictus113

Optimus912001

Perseus12

Sithlord-666

Lordofuselesness

TomtomtheWriter

Mol2311

**These people give me ideas for chapters I work on and for future ideas and for that, I deeply thank them. I hope for their continued support as well as from all of you.**

**Now, transform and roll out!**

* * *

_*Vale. Vale City. 10:10 am*_

Corporal Matthew Weir and the other Atlas Military people that went with him were in Vale with their personal mission: Look for the Autobots and thank them for saving them back in Anima. "Do you really think we'll find them in Vale?" Private Spyke asked.

"Even if we don't find them, we should at the very least find clues to where they are." Private Garcia reasoned.

"That may be true, but remember that they disappeared as soon as the fight was over." Private Bueller reminded.

"We have to at least try." Private Garcia insisted.

"Look, we're not disputing you, Carrol. We're just pointing out how hard it's gonna be finding these guys." Private Spyke said.

"I'm sorry, Dixon." Private Garcia apologized. "I-I just keep having nightmares about Orville being killed so gruesomely."

Carrol was starting to tear up. It was more than obvious that that mission in Anima had affected her greatly, with the sudden death of her brother and the Insecticon attack. Dixon slowly walked up to her and wrapped her in a soft hug. "We're okay, Carrol. We survived. I know it hurts. You have to stay strong, for your own sake." Private Spyke softly whispered.

Carrol sniffled with a few tears rolling down her face. "T-Thank you, Dixon." Private Garcia whispered.

"No problem, Carrol." Private Spyke whispered back. Suddenly, he blushed with Carrol's plentiful bosom pressed up against his chest. "N-No problem at all."

_*Atlas. Abandoned Construction Tunnel. 12:32 pm*_

There was noise occurring inside the tunnel. There was a pure black crane truck with azure blue lining and a black Deltic-Class Diesel Locomotive with yellow and red linings just sitting motionless.

"We've been here for so long, Eldritch." The crane truck suddenly started.

"I know, Igris, but what are we gonna do?" Eldritch asked. "We can't exactly go anywhere in this place. We don't even know if there are any Autobots on this planet, let alone Decepticons."

Igris merely sighed. "Look, we have to do something sooner or later. We can't keep hiding in this tunnel forever."

"You bring up a very valid point." Eldritch agreed. "I'm just once again saying we have to err on the side of caution."

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. General Ironwood's Quarters. 13:01 pm*_

For the first time in a long time, General Ironwood was genuinely happy with himself. Not only was Project: Cyber Warrior a success so far, but he was also in the process of creating several specialized squadrons that would have the knowledge of what they know about the Transformers so far.

To add to that, they also still had the parts of the dead Insecticons from the Anima mission and were still under extreme analysis. This had the potential of unlocking a new age of weaponry for Atlas, if not Remnant as a whole.

He went to his computer and brought up a growing list of people in the first special squadron:

**Darkstar Personnel**

Captain Kendall Idor

Corporal Lisa Clarrissa (Lynx Faunus)

Lieutenant Angela Torque

Private Courtney Fletcher (Mongoose Faunus)

Private Luis Aims

Private Randall Perry

"These are but a few of a growing number of people that will be in these special units." General Ironwood muttered to himself. Soon, more and more people will be joining this list alone."

"Ironwood. It's General Faust." She said on the other side of his door.

"Come in, General Faust." General Ironwood replied and General Faust did just that. "I was just going over the growing list of members of our Darkstar unit."

"Ah, yes. I personally recommended it. How is it coming along?" General Faust asked.

"Only six members so far, but the numbers will be growing." General Ironwood answered.

"Excellent, and Project: Cyber Warrior?" General Faust continued.

"Iron Phantom has a pilot and Argyos, Snowbreak, and Chillblade have passed initial neural interface testing." General Ironwood smiled.

"So, it's safe to say that things are proceeding very well." General Faust smiled back.

_*Mistral. Mistral Grand City. Haven High. 15:30 pm*_

Sun had just finished up with another school day. He was still thinking about what he saw those couple of months ago and wondering if he would see something like that again. "That robot that crashed that couple of months ago, where did it come from?" He quietly asked himself.

Subconsciously, Sun walked up to the crater that Strikecharge made when he crashed in Mistral. "This is where you crashed. Then, you just up and left. I might as well look into this further considering I'm getting more and more interested with this."

_*Vale. Ren Residence. Living Room. 17:21 pm*_

Ren, An, and Li were in the living having tea. "I still find it a little out there, sweetie." An said softly. "Two sides of the same alien race that's been fighting for millions of years."

"I know it's still a little farfetch'd, Mother. It is the truth, though." Ren insisted.

"We are not doubting you, son." Li assured his son. "We are just still wrapping our heads, so to speak."

"I know, Father. I'm just worried that you or my friends will get hurt more than we already have."

"You are referring to Jaune, aren't you?" An correctly guessed.

"Yes." Ren confirmed. "Jaune is still not well. His emotions are very much out of balance. You saw how he was in Atlas."

"Unfortunately, but we did." Li said. "One of these Autobots must have been a dear friend to Mr. Arc."

"Indeed, father." Ren nodded. "The name of this Autobot was Bumblebee who was also Jaune's guardian. He died in a big battle that we told you about."

"How horrible!" An put her hands on her chest.

"It was, but this did result in Jaune unlocking a new power and destroying a Decepticon all on his own." Ren added.

"That's good, sweetie. I just wish we could help out Jaune more and heal his lamenting." An expressed.

"I know, mother. I wish that, too." Ren agreed. Ren, An, and Li hugged each other.

_*Vale. Vale Meadow. Near the Caverns. 20:12 pm*_

The group of six were getting ready to move out to try and find Shockwave. "Are we all ready to head out?" Slash asked.

"Of course we are, Slash." Snarl snidely stated.

"We must be fully prepared to face Shockwave." Slug added.

"We will be ready for Shockwave, Slug." Grimlock growled. "We will destroy him."

"Grimlock, I think we should still remain cautious." Swoop advised, but Grimlock was having none of it.

"Caution is unneeded, Swoop." Grimlock retorted. "We must do anything and everything to track down and destroy Shockwave."

"Grimlock is right. He's gotten us this far, hasn't he?" Sludge asked.

Swoop sighed in frustration. "Of course you'd say that, Sludge. Grimlock is my leader too, but I'm not blindly following everything he does." He thought to himself.

"Alright. We're moving out." Grimlock ordered. With that, the Dinobots walked out of the cave and into the light, although Swoop and Slash did so reluctantly.

_*Anima. Insecticon Hive. 00:12 am*_

The Insecticons were just sitting around. "We have to do something! I'm bored!" Thrillipede complained.

"Must you keep complaining?" Kickback asked irritated.

Suddenly, there was a cybertronian engine being heard. "What is that, that?" Shrapnel asked. His question was answered in the form of the sound's source being a purple cybertronian vehicle which transformed into Shockwave.

"Shockwave!" Bombshell exclaimed.

"Greetings, Insecticons. The Decepticons have need of your services once again." Shockwave said, his red eye growing brighter.

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hope you all liked this chapter of Dustformers: Season 2. We took a look at the Atlas Military soldiers that left Atlas a couple of chapters/episodes ago and how they're doing. Private Garcia broke down a little understandably. Private Spyke and Private Garcia hinted at a slight attraction with each other while in Vale City.**

**We also take a look at a couple of Autobot OCs provided by OC contributor invictus113: Igris and Eldritch, two fembots, one a medic and the other a construction worker who have been hiding out in Atlas for the same time as the Ark crash-landed on Remnant four million years ago.**

**Not only that, but we also finally take another look at General Ironwood and find out he's actually begun forming multiple teams with a united objective: To track down and bring back any Transformers to Atlas for study. That's not like MECH at all.**

**Now, taking a small break from Atlas and Vale, we take a short visit to Mistral again and take a look at how Sun's doing. It's shown he's doing fine, but still wondering about the Transformers. Will he become involved somehow? Let me know if you have any ideas on that.**

**Back in Vale, we take a look at Ren and his folks. I thought we could take a look seeing as a couple chapters/episodes ago, we took a look at Nora's family.**

**In Vale Meadow, the Dinobots are mobilizing to try and track down Shockwave. We'll see how that goes a little later. Also, of course, Swoop is the most level-headed followed by Slash. Sludge blindly follows Grimlock without question despite being the calmest one, Snarl just quietly goes along, Slug is incredibly hostile, and Grimlock is utterly consumed with his desire for revenge against the top Decepticon scientist.**

**Finally, back in Anima, the Insecticons were just lounging around in their hive after a day's work of eating when suddenly Shockwave appeared and welcomed them back into the Decepticons under Megatron's orders.**

**Where will things go from here?**

**As usual, if you have any ideas (OCs, story ideas, etc…), please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.**

* * *

**PS: I'm sorry that this chapter/episode is a little shorter than the others, but I didn't have much inspiration when writing this one.**


	10. Hightrail's Tale

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to Dustformers: Season 2. A few things happened in the last chapter/episode. **

**The Dinobots are moving out to track down Shockwave, the remaining members of the Anima mission have come to Vale searching for the Autobots, General Ironwood has authorized the creation of multiple specialized teams to deal with the Transformers and bring them in for study (mostly), we take a look at how Sun's doing in Mistral, and Shockwave has found the Insecticons and brought them back into the Decepticon ranks. **

**Also, we visited Ren's folks and Ren in their house talking about the Transformers and such. **

**Once again, I'd like to thank all my contributors: (OCs/Story Ideas) **

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

D3ADPOOLK1d

invictus113

Optimus912001

Perseus12

Sithlord-666

Lordofuselesness

TomtomtheWriter

Mol2311

**These people give me ideas for chapters I work on and for future ideas and for that, I deeply thank them. I hope for their continued support. **

**Now, this chapter has been quite a long time coming as it was suggested back in Season 1. Now, I'm finally getting to it. **

**Now, transform and roll out!**

* * *

_*Vale. Vale City. Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen Residence. 04:33 am* _

Hightrail transformed into robot mode all of a sudden with a small scream. This still woke up everyone in the house. They all walked out to see what was going on. "Hightrail, what's wrong?" Wildfire asked in concern.

"I-It's nothing. D-Don't worry." Hightrail stuttered. "I-I just want to be alone right now, okay?"

"Okay, Hightrail." Ruby whispered. Hightrail walked off into a secluded part of the forest. Ruby's facial expression changed to one of sadness. "Hightrail..."

_*Vale. Vale City. Pyrrha & Snipewing. 06:23 am* _

Pyrrha and Snipewing were doing a little early morning patrol on the lookout for any sudden Decepticon activity. "Nothing so far." Pyrrha informed.

"Okay, it looks like Vale is still safe for the time being." Snipewing acknowledged. Snipewing was feeling a little better with Pyrrha around, so it was a start. Slowly but surely, she was recovering.

_*Vale. Vale Forest. 20 meters from Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen Residence. 8:12 am* _

Hightrail was sitting on a slightly tall stump in a forest clearing just thinking. For some reason, she felt sad today. Tears were rolling down her face. "Mom… Dad…" She breathed with sadness.

"Hightrail…" Ruby whispered. The young Autobot turned to see Ruby sitting beside her on a boulder.

"What are you doing here, Ruby?" Hightrail whispered back.

"I'm sorry, Hightrail. I know you wanted to be left alone, but I wanted to see how you were doing. After what happened to Bumblebee and how it's affected Jaune, I don't want you to be sad." Ruby explained.

Hightrail was stunned by Ruby's kindness and determination to keep her happy. She smiled slightly. "Thank you, Ruby." She sniffled.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked.

"I-I was just thinking about my parents," Hightrail answered.

"Your parents? You never mentioned anything about parents." Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"It's hard to talk about it." Hightrail admitted.

"I know that feeling. Are you at least comfortable enough to tell me cause I won't tell anyone else."

"So, this is where you two have been!" Zig exclaimed as she and Zag walked behind them.

"How have you been, Hightrail?" Zag asked.

"Hightrail's sad right now." Ruby had her head hung down.

"Why?" Zig asked.

"I-I'm just thinking about my parents." Hightrail sniffled.

"Oh." Zig and Zag muttered together.

"Do you two know what happened to them?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, Zig and I knew them personally." Zag sported a sad smile. "We were part of the 2nd Armored Division."

**-Flashback Start-**

_*Cybertron. 2nd Armored Division. Nova Cronum. 4.9 million years ago* (No POV)_

_Decepticon blaster fire was everywhere. A cybertronian SUV completely loaded with weapons was rolling down a beaten up street. The SUV was joined by three cybertronian jets above it. "Fuselage, Tailspin, Airlane. This is Steelgrip. Please respond."_

"_We're reading you loud and clear, Steelgrip." Fuselage responded. " Did you hear from Zig and Zag?"_

"_Nope." Steelgrip chuckled. "They've probably gotten themselves in trouble again as usual."_

"_Calling Autobots. This is Banshee. I'm pinned down in Nova Cronum Power Plant with Zig, Zag, and the 19th Reactionary Battalion!"_

"_Banshee! This is Steelgrip! I'm on my way with Fuselage, Tailspin, and Arilane! We'll back you up!" Steelgrip informed._

"_10-4, Steelgrip!" Banshee confirmed._

"_Steelgrip! This is Torron!" A new voice called._

"_Sir! We're on our way to the Nova Cronum Power Plant to assist Banshee, Zig, Zag, and the 19th Reactionary Battalion!" Steelgrip clarified._

"_Acknowledged, Steelgrip! Highwind, Roadkit, and Hightrail are with me. It'll take us a couple of megacycles to reach the power plant!"_

"_Of course, sir!" Steelgrip replied._

_*Cybertron. Nova Cronum Power Plant.*_

_Banshee, Zig, Zag, and the 19th Reactionary Battalion were fending off a massive Decepticon force. "Sweet Solus Prime! They just keep coming!" An Autobot shouted._

"_Don't worry! Backup is on it's way!" Zig assured._

"_How do you know that?!" Another Autobot asked. _

"_Because Commander Torron is on his way." Zag quickly answered._

"_Torron?! The 2nd Armored Division!" A third Autobot exclaimed before getting shot in the left arm joint. His arm started sparking. "When will he get here?"_

"_He said it will take a couple of megacycles for him depending on Decepticon interference." Banshee interjected._

"_Then we'll hold out the best we can!" A fourth Autobot grinned._

_Even though their hope was renewed, the Autobots couldn't hold the Decepticons off forever. One Autobot got shot directly in the left optic. This particular Autobot went down but wasn't dead yet. This Autobot chose to remain on the ground and take a back seat position. Surprisingly, he could still shoot his weapon with decent accuracy._

_Another Autobot on the other hand had their left leg joint blown off their body. This one went down as well, but it wasn't able to get back up as easily. "Arrhh! My leg!" He screamed in a great degree of pain._

_An Autobot that was colored lime green with white lining and a red cross symbol on their chest ran to the wounded Autobot. "I've got you." The Autobot said in a female voice. She noticed a Decepticon trying to sneak up on her, but she blew its arm off giving the other Autobots an easy target._

"_We've got you covered, Quickpulse." An Autobot grinned. _

"_Thanks for the assist." Quickpulse grinned back. "Now let's get you out of here."_

"_We got a whole platoon coming in!" Zig screamed out._

"_Then we defend this position until backup arrives!" The commanding Autobot ordered._

_The intruding Decepticon platoon was cutting through the Autobots when suddenly one by one, they were taken out by a silent force. When the Decepticons turned around, they only saw a yellow blur with a stinger protruding out of it's arm._

_Soon, the Decepticon platoon was taken out, but there were still more trying to flood in. Suddenly, a bunch of missiles hit the Decepticons, taking them out. "We have arrived!" Fuselage announced._

"_YEAH!" The Autobots cheered._

"_We made it, you two troublemakers!" Steelgrip declared as he transformed to robot mode. _

"_Steelgrip!" Zig and Zag ran to him and hugged him. "We knew you'd make it!"_

"_Well, I couldn't let you two have all the fun now, could I?" Steelgrip rhetorically asked._

"_Zig! Zag! You two are here, too?" Bumblebee asked with a smile._

"_Bumblebee!" Zig and Zag cheered as they ran over to the Autobot scout._

"_It's good to see you, too." Bumblebee smiled._

"_Thank Primus you made it, Steelgrip." The commanding Autobot grinned._

"_Not only Steelgrip." Torron said as he finally arrived._

"_Commander Torron, sir!" The Autobots saluted._

"_What do you all say we get out of here?" Torron asked._

"_Yes, sir!" The Autobots acknowledged when all of a sudden, a plethora of Decepticon Fighters were heard overhead._

"_Uh oh! The Cons have called in air support!" Quickpulse commented loudly._

_However, a white, golden yellow, and blue 'Spear' class fighter jet with the Autobot symbol flew in and unleashed a moderate flurry of missiles at the enemy air force. The Autobots on the ground cheered._

_The jet transformed to robot mode, revealing a femme figure. "How did you get here before me, Torron?"_

"_That's simple. I stick to the road while you have your head in the stars, Highwind." Torron teased._

"_I keep telling you that travel by air is the way to go." Highwind cutely retorted._

_Torron merely shook his head gently with a smile and closed optics. "Come on, everybody, let's go." He said._

**-Flashback end-**

_*Vale. Vale Forest. 20 meters from Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen Residence. Hightraik, Ruby, Zig, & Zag. 9:10 am. Present day.*_

Ruby was in awe at hearing the tale of Hightrail's parents. To hear they had their own division back on Cybertron and took down an impressive number of Decepticons. She didn't know that Zig and Zag were from the 2nd Armored Division. "Wow. Hightrail, your parents sound awesome."

"I honestly didn't know that because I wasn't born on Cybertron. I was born on a ship that already left Cybertron." Hightrail explained.

"Wait. Really?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. It was quite a shock to all of us." Zig sheepishly admitted.

Hightrail started tearing up again. "I-I barely got to know them."

**-Flashback start-**

_*Outer Space. 2nd Armored Division. Unknown Time.*_

"_Well, this was unexpected, you two." Roadkit commented._

"_I think it's sweet." Zig retorted._

"_So, what will you name her, sir?" Steelgrip asked._

"_Her name will be Hihgtrail." Torron smiled._

"_Mom? Dad?" Hightrail spoke with her cute voice for the very first time._

_Highwind touched her new daughter's cheek. "We're right here, sweetie." She chirped._

"_Welcome to the universe of the living, Hightrail." Torron kept his smile._

"_Sorry to spoil the moment, you two. We've got an object heading straight towards us. From the look of it, it appears deliberate." Banshee informed._

"_Try to maneuver the ship out of the way. Give this object a wide berth." Torron ordered._

"_Dad? What's going on?" Hightrail asked._

"_I don't know, Hightrail." Torron admitted._

"_It changed direction to match us!" Banshee shouted. "It's right on top of us!"_

"_Brace for impact!" Tailspin yelled as the object hit the ship, causing a small explosion. Hightrail's optics flickered on and off, so she couldn't see anything really well, but she was able to faintly make out a tall robot with a mostly purple, pale blue, and red color scheme with a different looking eye on the left side and holding a pair of energy knives before her whole world went black temporarily._

_When her optics managed to open, the ship was on fire everywhere. The last thing she saw was her mother crawling toward her, putting her into an escape pod and pressed the button to launch her off the ship before her optics closed again._

**-Flashback end-**

_*Vale. Vale Forest. 20 meters from Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen Residence. Hightraik, Ruby, Zig, & Zag. 9:10 am. Present day.*_

Hightrail's optics were leaking by this point. "I never saw my parents again after that."

Ruby hugged Hightrail's leg while the twins hugged her in general. "It's going to be okay, Hightrail." Ruby said, tearing up herself. "You've got me, Zig, Zag, and the others."

"T-Thanks, you three. I'll do my best to fight the Decepticons and make my parents proud." Hightrail declared with pure convivtion.

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hope you all liked this chapter/episode of Dustformers: Season 2. We finally get the backstory on Hightrail. It took a long while to get here, but I did it. There was no flashback though, helped through by the twins.**

**In this flashback, we finally take a look at the unit: The 2nd Armored Division which Zig, Zag, and Hightrail were all a part of. The idea of the 2nd Armored Division was actually provided way back in Season 1 by my very first OC contributor: Spartan-100.**

**2nd Armored Division Members: (These are all courtesy of Spartan-100)**

Torron

Highwind

Steelgrip

Roadkit

Banshee

Zig

Zag

Airlane

Fuselage

Tailspin

**Speaking of this flashback, please let me know how I did with its depiction. We also saw another Autobot OC of mine: Quickpulse who is another medic. Who knows if we'll see her again. We also see Bumblebee again in the flashback.**

**Now, I'm planning another big multi-parter like Insecticon Swarm in the beginning of this season. Anyway, as usual, if anyone has any ideas for Dustformers: Season 2, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.**


	11. A Talk

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. I took a little break from this story to focus on other fictions, but I'm back. **

**In the last chapter/episode, we learned about Hightrail's parents and the 2nd Armored Division, the unit that Zig and Zag were also apart of. We saw a mysterious Decepticon that attacked their ship and supposedly killed everyone but Hightrail and the twins. This idea was given to me by Spartan-100 back in Season 1, so I give my thanks.**

**Once again, I'd like to thank all my contributors: (OCs/Story Ideas)**

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

D3ADPOOLK1d

invictus113

Optimus912001

Perseus12

Sithlord-666

Lordofuselesness

TomtomtheWriter

Mol2311

**These people give me ideas for chapters I work on and for future ideas and for that, I deeply thank them. I hope for their continued support.**

**Now, let's jump in!**

* * *

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Project: Cyber Warrior Hangar. 4:00 am*_

Project: Cyber Warrior had still been successful. Aside from Iron Phantom, Argyos, Snowbreak, and Chillblade were testing successfully which made General Ironwood very happy. Things were proceeding at a moderately good pace. In face, a new fifth robot named Frostwing was being built. Now, all they had to do was to find where the Transformers were hiding and reverse-engineer their technology.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. "Come in."

The door opened and General Faust walked in. "The construction of Frostwing is proceeding slightly ahead of schedule."

"Excellent news, General Faust." General Ironwood smirked. "Anything else to report?"

"Only that Frostwing's weapons are specifically receptive to ice dust which we had in storage." General Faust added.

"That's interesting. That will definitely be something to see in combat." General Ironwood brought his hand to his chin.

"If we ever find them." General Faust reminded.

"We'll find them, General Faust. We'll find them." General Ironwood assured, albeit a little darkly. "If Remnant can be more prepared to ensure what happened at Vale Beachfront doesn't happen again, we need to find out all their technology to guarantee Remnant's future."

_*Vale. Vale City. Belladonna Residence. 6:21 am*_

Blake, Kali, and Ghira were having tea and, like with Ren and his folks, talking about the Transformers. Ghira and Kali were rather happy that their daughter had a protector. "Pursuit seems like a good guardian to you, Blake." Ghira smiled.

"After what we learned in Atlas, I'm so worried about you, sweetie." Kali said softly, close to tearing up.

Blake hugged her mother, tears starting to pool in her own eyes. "I'm still sorry for not telling you, Mom. Look at it this way, though. Pursuit is a great guardian and will go out of his way to protect me, even if it's him getting hurt in the process."

"We're just worried that you'll get hurt nonetheless." Ghira added.

"Dad, if the Autobots lose, we're all dead anyway. The Decepticons will either enslave us and take our world's resources or completely annihilate us." Blake retorted.

"We know, Blake. We just want you to be careful." Kali said.

Blake smiled at his parent's concern for her. This was why she was fighting with the Autobots. She didn't want anything to happen to them. She brought her mother and father in for a family hug.

_*Vale. Vale City. Nora & Ironhide. 7:56 am*_

Nora and Ironhide were on patrol yet again. This was also an excuse so they could spend time together and have conversations. "Nora, I'm gonna get right to the point this time. How is Jaune?

Nora sighed sadly as she had a feeling all the Autobots asked her friends how her fearless leader friend was. "He's the same as usual as he's been since Bumblebee died. He's on edge, moody, gets irritated or angry easily, sometimes lashes out at people, so focused on what he's doing in front of him, doesn't smile when he's with us, trains with his weapons, and he just locks himself in his room all the time now."

"I see. Is there any time when he does smile?" Ironhide asked.

"Only when he's with a girl from school named Tammy Goldberg." Nora answered.

"Sorry, Nora. I honestly wish I could do more to help." Ironhide expressed.

"We all do, Ironhide." Nora hung her head down in sadness.

Ironhide saw fit to change the subject to something less depressing. "Anyway, how does it feel to become an Autobot?"

Nora gained a widespread grin. "Oh, it's awesome! I can finally break Decepticon legs on equal footing! My Autobot name is Valkyria!"

"Sounds great. Doesn't Jaune have the same ability?" Ironhide asked.

"Yeah. His name is Arcknight." Nora replied. She was about to continue when she saw one of the soldiers from the Anima Mission sitting at an upcoming cafe. "Ironhide, stop!"

Ironhide slowed down and skidded to a halt and discovered what Nora screamed about. "Nora, isn't that one of the people you had to go on a mission with when you were essentially held hostage by the Atlas Military?"

"Yeah. Corporal Matthew Weir." Nora responded. "What the hell's he doing in Vale?" Nora began going into a small panic. "What if General Ironwood found us? What if he sent the Atlas Military after us? What if they find you all and dissect you to little pieces?!"

"Nora, you need to calm down. Ironic considering how I am, but panicking doesn't help anything. You need to calm down, take a step back, and analyze the situation." Ironhide advised.

Nora took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. Once she was calm enough, she listed off what was going on: Corporal Matthew Weir was in Vale, he was sitting out in the open in a cafe, and she didn't know why he was here or if there were any more soldiers hiding just to get Ironhide. Making a decision, she took her scroll and called the others.

"Nora? What's wrong?" Ren asked in concern.

"Corporal Matthew Weir is here in Vale in a cafe I'm looking at right now." Nora said.

"You mean one of the Atlas Military soldiers back in Anima?" Ruby asked in slight panic.

Nora merely nodded in confirmation. "Oh, no! General Ironwood might have found out where we all live!" Weiss panicked.

"Not to mention the Autobots." Pyrrha added.

"We have to throw him and any others off the trail." Jaune pointed out.

"I'll see what I can do until you guys get here." Nora assured. "Wish me luck." With that, she turned off her scroll and exited her vehicle, walking to where Corporal Weir was sitting. When he looked up, he saw Nora sitting right in front of him.

"Hello again, Ms. Valkyrie." Corporal Weir greeted.

"H-Hi, Corporal Weir." Nora stuttered nervously. There was sweat starting to roll down her head and face.

"You don't have to be nervous around me, Ms. Valkyrie." Corporal Weir tried to reassure the ginger bomber.

"H-How can I not be nervous?" Nora continued stuttering. "After what your commanding officer did, I have a legitimate reason to be nervous."

"Well, I'm just going to tell you that my commanding officer doesn't know I'm here." Corporal Weir revealed.

Nora was taken aback at hearing that. "Your commanding officer doesn't know you're here?"

"Not at all. I'm here to find those robots that helped us in Anima." Corporal Weir cut right to the chase.

Nora stopped herself from saying whatever and just sat there for a couple of minutes. "NORA!" Ren shouted. Nora let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Oh, hello again, Corporal Weir."

"At ease, guys. I'm not here on orders." Corporal Weir chuckled.

"Yeah. Sorry if we don't believe you, Corporal." Jaune sarcastically remarked. "Especially after what happened in Atlas."

"Jaune, please." Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder. Jaune seemed to calm down.

"The others that came with me are in the cafe." Corporal Weir continued. "You see, we left Atlas and came here because we want to thank those robots for saving our lives back in Anima. If it wasn't for them, we'd all be dead."

"There's no doubting that. I'm sorry to say this, but General Ironwood is a little obsessed with this." Yang bluntly stated.

Corporal Weir sighed. "You kids don't know the half of it. He's sped up Project" Cyber Warrior despite protests." Before he could continue, he was interrupted by Blake.

"What's Project: Cyber Warrior?" Blake asked.

"Basically... The Atlas Military are making their own robots." Corporal Weir answered, making the kid's eyes go wide with that information. The Atlas Military were making their own Transformers? How could they even do that? Where would they find the tech needed to actually do that? The conclusion they came to in their heads was unanimous: If the Atlas Military was able to do this, they would be in trouble for sure.

_*Vale. Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Depth Strike's Quarters. 9:01 am*_

Depth Strike was in his quarters, coming up with new strategies when Megatron knocked on the door. "Come in, Lord Megatron."

Megatron did just that. What he saw when he walked in impressed him as the walls were littered with tons of different battle stratagems. "I see you've been busy since we've been down here."

"It's a good way to pass the time, Megatron." Depth Strike commented.

"You were one of the best strategists on Cybertron. We will see if that reputation holds up on Remnant." Megatron commented back.

"I will help us achieve victory over the Autobots, no matter where we are, Lord Megatron." Depth Strike bowed.

_*Atlas. Northern Wastes. 11:10 am*_

The same, blue-eyed snow leopard was simply walking around. It looked like it was pondering something. It kept pausing in it's movements and glancing into the horizon. Suddenly growling a little, the snow leopard continued walking to wherever it was going. It seemed like it had a central purpose in it's movements.

_*Vale. Vale City. Dustbucks Cafe. 12:12 pm*_

The kids and Atlas Military group were still talking very important topics. The kids were still shocked. "So, this Project: Cyber Warrior is really along and still continuing to be advanced." Ruby muttered with shock and slight fear.

"Exactly. It's been in overdrive ever since the Anima Mission." Private Spyke added.

"By the way, how's the little girl we saved from Anima?" Private Garcia brought up.

"Nora's family adopted her." Ren answered which made Nora smile.

"That's sweet of them to do." Private Bueller smiled.

"What will you all do if the Atlas Military finds you?" Weiss asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Private Bueller responded, looking at Weiss and smiling slightly.

"Private Bueller is right. We'll have to deal with that when the time comes." Corporal Weir said.

"Anyway, I want to find those robots to thank them for saving us in Anima." Private Garcia began tearing up at the mere memory. Jaune could tell Carrol was genuine with her feelings. He got up and hugged her, surprising her and caused her to squeak cutely.

"We're still so sorry about what happened." Jaune said softly.

Carrol didn't respond and settled into the embrace, not noticing Dixon tensing a little. "I think they would accept your thanks." Carrol smiled at this. She felt that they would meet the Autobots at some point, sooner or later.

_*Cybertron. Unknown time. Unknown location. Unknown time.*_

On the metal planet, in a moderately high tower with purple lining, a dark blue robotic figure was sitting around when a signal device started beeping loudly. The robotic figure looked out at the device. "So, you're still alive, Megatron..." The figure got up and picked up a strange pickaxe weapon and walked out.

_*Cybertron. Unknown time. Cybertron's Core. Unknown time*_

The core of Cybertron was showing no signs of color. The only colors it had are a dull gray and black in a complete stationary position. However, all of a sudden, it began pulsing rapidly, like it was signaling someone or something.

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hope you all liked this new chapter/episode of _Dustformers: Season 2_. We take a look at the Belladonna residence like we've been doing with the others, Nora and Ironhide are doing another patrol in Vale City and having a conversation, we take a look at Megatron and Depth Strike and Depth Strike's various stratagems. **

**Back with Nora and Ironhide, they find Corporal Matthew Weir sitting at a cafe. Nora began panicking and would have continued if not for Ironhide telling her to keep calm. She calls the others and tells them that she'll try to distract him until they get to the cafe. Obvously, Nora is very nervous when talking to Corporal Weir, who's just calm and collected as well as cut to the chase, getting to the topic of the Autobots. The surprising thing is that Nora is shocked into silence. Luckily, the others showed up before she started turning blue. The big thing is that the kids now know about Project: Cyber Warrior. Also, is there some romance going to be brewing between Private Mitchell Bueller and Weiss Schnee? We'll find out later.**

**Meanwhile in Atlas, a fifth robot for Project: Cyber Warrior named Frostwing is in the process of being built, which pleases General Ironwood. Frostwing also seems to be receptive to ice dust. We also take a look at that blue eyed snow leopard. I wonder where that will go.**

**That's not all. We travel to Cybertron in the present day. On Cybertron, we see a mysterious dark blue robot with a pickaxe weapon. Try to figure out who that is. Also, we visit Cybertron's core which actually starts lighting up for a tad.**

**As usual, if anyone has any ideas, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.**

**-Stay safe-**


	12. Planning

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. I took a little break from this story to work on my other works, but I'm back on Dustformers and I hope this story continues to gain support and ideas. **

**Now, in the last chapter/episode, the Atlesian Military's Project: Cyber Warrior has a fifth robot being built named Frostwing, we take a visit at the Belladonna residence to see Blake and her family talking about the Autobots, Nora and Ironhide have a conversation of multiple topics while on their patrol, and the survivors of the Anima mission are in Vale looking for the Autobots, running into the kids.**

**Also, we get a present day visit to Cybertron and see a dark, mysterious robotic figure pick up a weapon and leave a tower of sorts. Also, Cybertron's core begins pulsing on and off.**

**Once again, I'd like to thank all my contributors: (OCs/Story Ideas)**

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

D3ADPOOLK1d

invictus113

Optimus912001

Perseus12

Sithlord-666

Lordofuselesness

TomtomtheWriter

Mol2311

**These people give me ideas for chapters I work on and for future ideas and for that, I deeply thank them. I hope for their continued support.**

* * *

_*Vale. Vale City. Valkyrie Residence. 23:59 pm*_

Nora was sound asleep in her room, up until a couple minutes ago, that is. She suddenly began tossing and turning in her bed. Then, she started mumbling incoherent nothings in her sleep.

_*Nora's Dreamscape.*_

Nora's slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself in a purely white void. "Where the hell am I?" She asked herself out loud.

_"**Nora Valkyrie..." **_A voice called out to her. She looked to see a tall, purple robot with what looked to be a cape with a feminine stature wielding a large hammer. Instead of being afraid, Nora was just staring at the robot's hammer.

"Who are you?" Nora asked with little stars in her eyes. "Where did you get that hammer?" The robot didn't speak and unleashed a bright light on her, making her cover her eyes.

_*Remnant. Nora's Room.*_

Nora quickly woke up with wide eyes, partially sweating up a storm. "Whew! What went on there?" She shook her head a little, wondering what just happened in her dream.

_*Vale. Vale City. Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen Residence. 2:13 am*_

Ruby was at her computer working her way through the Atlesian Military database once again. Though she knew that the data the Atlesian Military had on them was wiped, she felt she had to check the database again since running into Corporal Matthew Weir and the other survivors of the Anima Mission.

Soon, she got back to the Project: Cyber Warrior files. Curiosity overtaking her, she entered the files and found that the Atlesian Military were constructing a fifth robot code-named 'Frostwing'. Ruby's eyes widened at the information she just stumbled upon. "It can't be. They must've advanced this project after we escaped."

Suddenly, she heard footsteps. She turned and saw it was Yang. "What're you up to, Rubes?" Yang asked.

"I just found out something regarding the Atlesian Military." Ruby answered with a little bit of panic in her voice.

Yang quickly came to attention. "What is it?"

"The Atlesian Military has a project named Cyber Warrior which I discovered before we got captured. I found it again and have found out they've advanced the project much further since we escaped their headquarters. They're currently building a fifth robot with the name of Frostwing." Ruby explained. She showed her sister the images of the robots on her laptop.

Yang's jaw dropped as she was completely shocked at what her sister was showing her. "Okay. 1: Where did they get the tech to build these robots? 2: What does this mean for us?"

"In order, they must've acquired Cybertronian technology from somewhere If these robots ever come online, we'll definitely be in trouble." Ruby responded. "We have to tell the others tomorrow."

_*Vale. Vale Meadow. The Dinobots. 4:21 am*_

The Dinobots were still trudging along on their mission to find Shockwave and make him pay. Though, it was mostly Grimlock while the others,mostly Swoop and Slash were highly concerned about their leader's extreme vendetta. "He has to be here somewhere." Grimlock growled.

"When we find him, we'll make him pay for what he did." Slug added bringing his fist into his palm.

"What will we do after that, then?" Snarl asked.

"That doesn't matter, Snarl. All that matters is finding Shockwave and making him pay." Grimlock snarled.

Swoop and Slash were in the back talking to each other quietly, making sure the others couldn't hear them. "Again, he might not even be on this planet." Swoop whispered.

"Yeah, but tell that to Grimlock and his extremely hard headplate and single-minded cranial chamber." Slash whispered back. "His unfettered rage is continuously clouding his judgement."

"What're you two talking about?" Sludge asked as he turned to look at them.

"Nothing." Swoop and Slash answered rather quickly. Sludge merely shrugged and returned to looking forward. The two sighed in quiet frustration.

Slash continued whispering to Swoop once Sludge was actually out of audio receptor shot. "Grimlock's vendetta has to stop at some point. Otherwise, it's going to get us all killed."

"You know that trying to convince Grimlock to give up his revenge on Shockwave is next to impossible." Swoop reminded. "Still, it doesn't hurt to try."

_*Vale. Vale City. Beacon High Grounds. 8:34 am*_

The kids met up before school because Nora said she had something to tell them. "Alright, Nora. What do you have to tell us? Is something wrong?" Ren asked in concern.

"Ok, here goes. I had a weird dream last night. I was in a black white void. Then, this strange robot appeared and it looked like it was wearing a cape and wielding a hammer. I asked the robot who it was, but it didn't say anything and unleashed a bright light. Next thing I knew, I woke up in my room." Nora explained.

"Wow. That is weird." Yang commented with a raised eyebrow.

"Actually, I have to admit that I had a dream like Nora's a little while ago. There was also a robot in my dream, but the robot I saw was red, white, and blue and having a large sword." Jaune revealed.

"Why didn't you tell us this before, Jaune?" Weiss asked.

"To be honest, this genuinely slipped my mind." Jaune sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Classic Jaune." Blake playfully rolled her eyes at the blonde knight.

"Ruby and I have something to say as well, but it's more serious." Yang added.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Shockwave's Quarters. 10:20 am*_

Shockwave was continuing to tinker in his laboratory. He was working on multiple projects to further the efforts of the destruction of the Autobots. Suddenly stopping, he turned to a secret compartment in one of his workstations.

Walking to that specific workstation, he opened a special compartment and took out six lit-up chips. "One of my many projects that I might have a chance to finally finish since this planet has many resources." He said to himself. "The only minor setback is that the only place to have the resources most viable is that continent known as Atlas."

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door once again. "Enter." He said.

Megatron walked in. "Shockwave, I have come to see your progress on your scientific endeavors." Megatron grinned.

"I am continuing to make excellent progress, Lord Megatron." Shockwave replied. "However, I have discovered a minor setback."

"What may that be?" Megatron asked.

"Despite this planet having many resources needed for one of my projects, the only place that has the most abundance of these resources is the continent named Atlas." Shockwave explained.

"Then we must attack this Atlas if this project of yours is to be completed." Megatron kept his grin.

"That is the most logical option." Shockwave agreed.

"Then it will be so, Shockwave." Megatron confirmed.

Outside of Shockwave's quarters, Starscream was listening in. His jealousy was flaring up at his very spark. "Of course Shockwave has a plan to usurp my position as second in command." He growled to himself. "Luckily for me, I have a plan to circumvent Shockwave's project." He walked away from where he was standing, retracing the steps of his little ploy, unaware that a little robotic bird was listening behind a corner.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military __Headquarters. General Ironwood's Quarters. 13:01 pm*_

General Ironwood still had a smile on his face. Project: Cyber Warrior was continuing to advance ahead of schedule. He sighed in contentment. "Another good day. Soon, all those aliens would give their technology for the betterment of Remnant." This was a good cause: For Remnant's future.

Suddenly, his computer went off. "What could that be?" He asked himself. Cautiously, he looked at his messages and saw it was from an anonymous source._ "I have obtained information regarding what you seek. Atlas will be attacked in two days time by alien forces. Prepare your forces for battle before the attack comes."_ He read. Within a second, his good mood was replaced with anger and determination. Without saying another word, he left his office to prepare for the apparent impending attack.

"General Ironwood. What's wrong?" General Faust asked as she caught him in the hallway.

"I just received a tip that Atlas will be attacked in two days time from the aliens that inspired Project: Cyber Warrior." General Ironwood explained. "We must prepare for this attack to the best of our abilities."

"Of course, sir. What's the intel?" General Faust asked.

"A very reliable source." General Ironwood quickly answered.

"Alright, then. We must inform all of Atlas so there won't be a mass panic." General Faust brought up. "If its these aliens that are attacking, we must be certain that Project: Cyber Warrior is ready for action."

"Agreed, General Faust." General Ironwood nodded. "Let us be off then."

General Faust also nodded before remembering something she'd thought about before. "I've been thinking. If Atlas gains the upper hand by gaining this alien technology, it not only means a revolution of weaponry, but Atlas would rise to be Remnant's dominant superpower."

"That is true, but we have to make sure Atlas survives this attack and pushes the aggressors back." General Ironwood retorted calmly.

_*Vale. Vale Forest. The Ark. Ratchet's Quarters. 15:09 pm*_

Ratchet held a container of neon green liquid in his hand. "Time to add some to this test engine." He injected the green liquid into a test engine sitting on his desk. Within a couple of minutes, the engine started glowing green and started up.

"Very good." Ratchet muttered. "This may be just what we need."

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. He sighed in frustration. This was a frequent occurrence since Bumblebee's death. The other Autobots had repeatedly told him that Bumblebee's fate wasn't his fault. The whole thing made Ratchet think back to the last time he'd failed to save a comrade from death...

**-Flashback Start-**

_*Cybertron. Tyger Pax. 5 million years ago.*_

_Ratchet was trying to save an Autobot literally dying on the table as the Autobot has a gaping hole in his side, energon pouring out like a river. "It can't be done, doc!" A random Autobot shouted. "The circuit damage is too damn extensive! You can't save him!"_

_"I'm not gonna let him die like this!" Ratchet angrily shouted back._

_"R-Ratchet..." The Autobot on the table uttered._

_That drew Ratchet away from the argument. "You're going to be okay."_

_"That's scrap and you know it. I'm gone already, doc. J-Just remember to keep on fighting for a better future."_

_"No! You're going to make it!" Ratchet shouted._

_The Autobot on the table said nothing more as his optics flickered off. Ratchet's own optics widened as he'd failed to save an Autobot on the table. His hands clenched into fists. "Damn it!" He slammed his fists on the table, his optics clenched shut. The others looked at him with shock and sympathy as this was yet another toll on them._

**-Flashback End-**

_*Vale. Vale Forest. The Ark. Ratchet's Quarters. 15:15 pm. Present Day.*_

Ratchet was snapped out of his memory by yet another knock on his door. This time, he actually got up and answered the door, seeing it was Optimus Prime. "Hello, Optimus."

"I came to check up on you. You've been in your quarters ever since the battle at Vale Beachfront." Optimus reminded. "We're all worried about you."

"Sorry, Optimus. It's just that I haven't been in a great mood ever since that day as I'd failed again." Ratchet hung his head down.

"Ratchet. You did everything you could." Optimus said calmly.

"No, I didn't!" Ratchet exclaimed. "I failed again! I couldn't save Autobots on Cybertron, and I couldn't save Bumblebee that day, either!"

"Ratchet..." Optimus muttered quietly.

"However, I have revived an old project of mine which I hope you all will see very soon." Ratchet brought up.

"I see." Optimus nodded. "Just please come to the main foyer. The others want to see you up and about again."

"I-I'll try." Ratchet stuttered.

Optimus put his hand on the medic's shoulder. "That's all we ask." With that, he walked off, leaving Ratchet alone wit his thoughts once again. This was what he had to protect and he would achieve that.

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I'm back and I hope you all liked this chapter of Dustformers: Season 2. Nora has had a similar dream to Jaune's with a mysterious robot saying nothing and unleashing a bright light.**

**We take another look at the Dinobots in Vale Meadow who're still trying to find Shockwave. Swoop and Slash are the most concerned about Grimlock obsessing over finding the Decepticon scientist.**

**Nora tells the others that she had a weird dream involving a robot that didn't say anything. Jaune also reveals that he had a dream like Nora's, but admits it slipped his mind.**

**Shockwave is continuing to tinker when he suddenly paused and took out six special chips from a workstation compartment when he's visited by Megatron once again. Outside his quarters, we finally get Starscream's duplicitousness as he plans to sabotage Shockwave's efforts. Sorry it took me this long to show that side of Starscream.**

**We once again go back to Atlas and look at General Ironwood who is actually managing to have a smile on his face before receiving an anonymous tip. This managed to replace his good mood as the tip described an attack on Atlas in two days time. Who knows how that will go.**

**Finally, we take a look at poor Ratchet back in the Ark, still in his quarters. He has made a substance that's neon green that we've actually seen before. Hope it comes in handy. However, he has a flashback back on Cybertron when he failed to save an Autobot on the table. His guilt is eating away at him. Poor Ratchet.**


	13. Siege of Atlas Part 1

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. In the last chapter/episode, a few things happened yet again.**

**Shockwave has taken out six chips out of a workstation compartment of his and talks with Megatron about attacking Atlas which the Decepticon leader agrees to. Meanwhile, Starscream is shown eavesdropping outside Shockwave's quarters and goes off to plot, unaware that Laserbeak is listening in as well.**

**Nora has a strange dream similar to Jaune's involving a strange looking robot wielding a large hammer which she tells the others about. This also has Jaune telling them about his dream that is eerily similar to Nora's.**

**In Atlas, General Ironwood receives an anonymous tip that Atlas will be attacked in two days time. Three guesses as to who sent the tip. All we know is that Atlas will be in overdrive to prepare for the attack.**

**Once again, I'd like to thank all my contributors: (OCs/Story Ideas)**

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

D3ADPOOLK1d

invictus113

Optimus912001

Perseus12

Sithlord-666

Lordofuselesness

TomtomtheWriter

Mol2311

**These people give me ideas for chapters I work on and for future ideas and for that, I deeply thank them. I hope for their continued support.**

**cryo threshold: An idea you suggested to me will be introduced very soon.**

**Now, prepare for another big multi-parter!**

* * *

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. General Faust's Quarters. 3:00 am. One Day Later.*_

General Faust was having a conversation with General Ironwood in her quarters. Her quarters were a little more organized than General Ironwood's. There were many notebooks probably full of battle plans and project ideas, a few degrees, a small window, a large computer on her desk, and most of the room was a light blue. "I have to say, General Ironwood, for having only one more day to prepare, we've done a very good job so far."

General Ironwood smiled at his fellow general. "Indeed. We have to be as prepared as we can for the impending attack."

"That's all we can do at this point, James." General Faust reminded. "Another piece of good news is that Project: Cyber Warrior is nearly combat ready."

"Excellent news." General Ironwood's eyes gained a glint and his smile widened. "Another thing is that if we take more of these aliens, we'll be able to further advance Project: Cyber Warrior."

General Faust merely nodded at this. Atlas had to survive this attack if that were to happen, but she had more confidence this time. Atlas would survive and rise up from this.

_*Vale. Vale City. Ren Residence. Ren's Room. 4:21 am*_

Ren was tossing and turning in bed. He was having trouble sleeping similar to Nora yesterday. Some sweat was dripping on his forehead. All of a sudden, he started panting lightly.

_*Ren's Dreamscape*_

_Ren was in the same blank white void that Nora and Jaune had __described. Everywhere he looked, there was nothing but an endless expanse of nothingness. "It looks like I'm having the same dream Nora and Jaune had." He said to himself._

**_"Lie Ren..."_**_ Ren turned to where the new voice seemed to be coming from. What he saw was astonishing and incredible at the same time. He was looking directly at a white and golden yellow robot wearing what seemed to be samurai armor of the same colors. _

_"Hello? Who are you?" Ren asked._

**_"It is nice to finally meet you, Lie Ren." _**_The robot bowed. Ren's eyes widened. This robot actually talked to him. Nora and Jaune mentioned the robots in their dreams didn't say anything else besides their names. Before he could ask anything else, a bright light enveloped the white void._

_*Vale. Vale City. Ren Residence. Ren's Room. 4:25 am*_

Ren woke up with more sweat running down his face as well as a sharp gasp and panting a little more heavily. "It seems I had the same dream Jaune and Nora had." Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. "Come in."

"Sweetie, I heard you gasp. Are you okay?" An asked as she walked into her son's room and sat on his bed.

"I'm okay, Mother. I just had a strange dream." Ren answered.

"What kind of dream was it?" An asked, curious.

"I was in an entirely white void, and I saw a strange Transformer wearing what looked like samurai armor and it actually responded to me, though it didn't really answer my question." Ren explained.

"I see. Have any of your friends had a dream like that?" An asked.

"Yes, actually. Nora and Jaune." Ren replied unknowingly setting her mother up for a perfect response.

"Oh, Nora? The girl you've been crushing on since you were kids?" An teased with a small grin.

Ren blushed brightly at hearing that. "M-Mother!" Ren stuttered, cutely flustered. "I-Its n-nothing like that."

"Are you sure about that, dear?" An continued teasing.

"I..." Ren's blush became a little brighter. "I just worry about her, a lot."

An kept her teasing grin. "That's just a way the love starts. Why don't you give her a call when she wakes up?"

Ren thought about it for a minute. It would be best to tell Nora very soon. "I will do that. Thank you, Mother."

"Anytime, sweetie." An and Ren hugged.

_*Vale. Vale City. Valkyrie Residence. Nora's Room. 6:09 am*_

Nora woke up with a cute yawn stretching her arms. She looked at her scroll and saw it was vibrating. Picking it up, she answered her scroll. "Hello?" Nora asked groggily.

"Hello, Nora." Ren responded.

"Renny? Not that I'm not happy to be talking to you this early, but why the call?" Nora asked.

"I had a dream like Jaune's and yours last night." Ren answered.

Nora became excited. "Really?! Did the robot say anything besides your name?"

"Actually, yes. It said 'Nice to meet me.'" Ren said, astonishment evident in his voice.

"Oh, my Oum!" Nora exclaimed with a wide grin. "You have to tell the others this during school today!"

"I will, Nora. I will." Ren chuckled.

_*Vale. Vale Forest. The Ark. Main Lobby. 7:00 am*_

The Autobots, including Ratchet and Snipewing were gathered in the main lobby. The others were glad the two were up and about for the time being. "The kids have informed me that the continent known as Atlas is attempting to reverse-engineer our technology with a project named Cyber Warrior." Optimus explained.

"Why would they even attempt that?!" Ratchet asked incredulously.

"Probably to gain power to rule." Full-Throttle assumed to which CLUTCH sighed in exasperated response to.

"Now, why would people of Remnant do that?" Snipewing asked.

"They must not know what they've got in their small hands." Hound reasoned. "They're probably doing this to advance their defensive technology."

"Or they must be planning to capture us and further their own advancements." Ironhide retorted.

"Also, Teletraan-1 has detected Autobot movement in Vale Meadow. Six signatures." Wheeljack listed off.

"Autobots? Who are they?" Jazz asked.

"We're about to find out." Wheeljack said as he typed something into Teletraan-1. When the computer zoomed into the six Autobot signatures, what they saw not only surprised them, but got some of them legitimately agitated.

"GRIMLOCK!?" Everyone but Optimus Prime shouted in pure astonishment.

"Not to mention his team!" Zag screamed.

"Well, that's just great! They're here which means they're going to fight us as well as the Decepticons!" Ratchet exclaimed very loudly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, doc! There's no guarantee they'll attack us." Full-Throttle tried calming Ratchet down and failing to do so.

"Forget attacking us! He's a goddamn DESERTER!" Ironhide shouted angrily. "He left us when we needed him most back on Cybertron!"

"Again, he left his post for a reason and you all found out what was done to him." Optimus brought up calmly. That got everyone to quiet down for the time being. It was true that they found out what Shockwave did to not only Grimlock, but his entire team. It was truly gruesome to learn indeed, but that didn't mean they didn't forget how Grimlock treated them simply because he deemed them weaker than him.

"His incredibly unfettered temper represents as much a danger to the Autobots as well as the Decepticons." Ratchet brought up.

"Ratchet has a point there." Zig agreed.

"Regardless, they are still Autobots and must be helped if we are able." Optimus said.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Optimus." Wheeljack voiced. "They tend to go off and do things their own way."

"We're all aware of that, Wheeljack, but they're still Autobots, even if they aren't liked that much." Elita-1 spoke up.

"Elita's right." Wildfire voiced while transforming into robot mode. "We have to help them if they get into trouble."

"You mean when, Wildfire." Pursuit corrected. "I've heard of Grimlock and his team. They are basically a heavy hitter squad. I've learned that to mean a commando squad here on Remnant."

"I think everyone's heard of them back on Cybertron." Zig deadpanned.

"Again, they are still Autobots and we will help them when the time comes." Optimus repeated.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Main Hall. 9:59 am*_

All of the Decepticons, including the Predacon were gathered in front of Megatron's throne. "Listen up, Decepticons! Tomorrow, we attack the continent known as Atlas to cripple Remnant's future to fight against us. This will also draw out the Autobots so we can destroy them! However, those are not our only objectives. A new primary objective is for Shockwave's new project that requires six specific Remnant vehicles to be brought here." Megatron explained.

"Ugh! Another Shockwave-centric plan!" Starscream complained threw his hand in the air in exasperation.

"Shut up, Starscream!" Flamewar retorted.

"You should listen to Flamewar, Starscream." Shockwave coolly added, his singular optic staring right at the Seeker. "Or need I remind you of your continuous failures even before we came here?"

"How dare you speak to me in such a disrespectful manner!" Starscream was raising his voice.

"SILENCE!" Megatron roared slamming his fist on his armrest, shutting everyone up before a full-blown argument could break out. "Starscream. You would do well to remember that Shockwave outranks you in all scientific endeavors. Unlike some of my other warriors, he never fails me."

Shockwave bowed in respect. "I live to serve, Lord Megatron."

"Anyway, we have to strike not only strong, but precise also." Megatron continued. "We don't want to accidentally fall prey to any hidden defenses this Atlas might have set up. Dismissed!"

With that, the Decepticons left the main hall and scattered to their quarters to prepare to attack Atlas, including Starscream. When he reached his quarters, he let out a chuckle. "I will make it so that Shockwave's plan will fail and I'll retain my position."

_*Vale. Vale City. Beacon High. Main Hallway. 11:09 am*_

Weiss was focused on other things, mainly her sister. From what Ruby told them, the situation in Atlas was getting worse since General Ironwood was getting more and more paranoid regarding the Transformers. Now, it looked like he and the Atlas Military are setting up defenses. Who knew what Winter was doing with them right now. "Weiss? Are you ok?" Ruby asked as she and the others walked over.

"No, Ruby. I'm not ok. Atlas is upping their defenses. General Ironwood seems to have become crazy in a sense, and my sister is still in Atlas Military Headquarters working for him. If the Decepticons attack all of a sudden, those defenses won't do anything to deter them." Weiss was beginning to tear up at her answer.

"Weiss, we will help your sister if the Decepticons attack, regardless of the place being Atlas." Ruby put her hand on Weiss's shoulder.

"You mean that?" Weiss had tears starting to roll down her face.

"I do. Regardless of your sister being in the military of Atlas, she's still your sister, and that means we have to save her if things get too hot." Ruby added.

Ruby uncharacteristically hugged Ruby tightly while crying still. "Thank you, Ruby. Thank you, everyone." Weiss breathed.

"It's no problem. Family matters over all other things." Yang added.

"Plus, if the Decepticons do attack Atlas, we have to be there to help defend it." Ren voiced.

"Agreed." Nora smiled.

"Not to be the realistic one here, but need I remind you all that Atlas has branded all of us fugitives, and seeks to hunt down the Autobots to dissect them?" Jaune reminded.

"We haven't forgotten, Jaune, but saving lives is more important than staying safe from Atlas." Pyrrha retorted.

"Pyrrha's right, Jaune." We have to help despite the circumstances." Nora added.

"Now, I didn't say we shouldn't help. I'm just saying we still need to be very, very careful whenever Atlas is concerned." Jaune explained.

"You do bring up a good point, Jaune." Ren said, deciding to tell the others about his dream. "Anyway, I had a dream like Jaune's and Nora's last night. I already told Nora this, but the robot in my dream said something more than my name."

That got the others to go wide-eyed. "I guess these dreams are self-progressive." Blake pondered.

"Yeah. Now, let's get to the Ark." Yang said. After putting in a code with no one watching for the moment, a ground bridge appeared. They quickly ran through it and it closed immediately.

_*Vale. Vale Forest. The Ark. Main Lobby. 11:10 am*_

The kids were greeted by the Autobots as soon as the exited the ground bridge portal. "Shouldn't you all still be in school right now?' Ratchet asked.

"Yes, but we have something to show you." Ruby retorted.

Weiss took this as her cue to walk over to Teletraan-1. After Wheeljack helped her up to the computer, she typed something in and showed Atlas. "Atlas is building up defenses."

"Why would they even do that?" CLUTCH asked.

"We think the Decepticons are going to attack Atlas." Weiss answered.

"Maybe they are. I wouldn't exactly put it past them." Snipewing growled.

"We have to be ready to defend them if this so-called attack does happen." Elita-1 stated with determination.

"Only you would say that, Elita-1." Wildfire sported a small grin.

"Even though I don't like this, we will help Atlas if the Decepticons attack." Ironhide sighed. "Let's just be careful. We don't know what'll happen."

"Of course we don't, Ironhide." Hightrail commented. "We can't determine what happens before a new day begins. We just have to take it one step at a time."

The Autobots stared at her, their optics wide. "Very well spoken, Hightrail. Your parents would be very proud of you." Optimus smiled.

Hightrail went back to her shy self. "Y-You think so?"

"I know so." Optimus kept his smile.

"Let us know when we leave, Optimus." Ratchet said.

"Unfortunately, some Autobots will have to remain behind to watch over the base." Optimus brought up.

"I'll be one of them, sir." Full-Throttle immediately raised his hand. "I wouldn't function that good in the cold."

"I can vouch for that point." CLUTCH cut in. "He's worried about his looks if he goes to Atlas."

"Not true!" Full-Throttle retorted. "It's just that the cold doesn't work well with my circuitry."

"Who else will stay with Full-Throttle?" Optimus asked.

"I will stay behind. I'm actually close to finishing up a little project of mine." Ratchet said.

"Very well, Ratchet. Anyone else?" Optimus asked.

"I've got to stay behind myself, but for a bit. There's a couple of things I'm working on. Once I finish these couple of things, I'll join you in Atlas." Wheeljack explained.

"I wonder what you'll dazzle us with next, Wheeljack." Zig smiled while giggling a little.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Hypnotica & Abysswing's Quarters. 12:34 pm*_

Hypnotica and Abysswing were talking to their twin sparklings. "This is your very first battle, you two." Abysswing said. "Do you think you're ready to destroy some Autobots?"

"Of course, Father." Abyssica bowed.

"What about you, Bloodsurge?" Hypnotica asked.

"I'm ready to destroy our enemy and ensure Decepticon rule, Mother." Bloodsurge grinned evilly.

"Remember, you two are Decepticons. We follow Megatron's orders to the letter." Abysswing reminded.

"Yes, Father." Abyssica and Bloodsurge bowed again.

Abysswing turned to Hypnotica. "I'm sorry, Hypnotica. For this battle, I must be with the other Grimmcons so we can combine into Grimmlord."

"That's ok. I do understand. I think I'll be fine with our two sparklings by my side." Hypnotica replied with a smile.

"We will win this battle." Abysswing smiled back cupping Hypnotica's face lovingly.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Shockwave's Quarters. 12:34 pm*_

Shockwave was nearly ready to attack Atlas. Turning around, he saw the Predacon sitting down, just looking at him. "You have a second chance to hunt, Predacon. You will be joining us in this battle. The Predacon let out an anticipating growl to indicate it was excited to hunt Autobots again.

_*Atlas. Northern Wastes. 13:31 pm*_

The Snow Leopard went into a cave that seemed to be lit up from the inside. Suddenly, it transformed into a robot of feminine figure. The robot sighed in slight exasperation. "Another uneventful day, Snowstalker." She said to herself.

She sat down on a boulder in front of some light. "I feel like something bad is going to happen involving Atlas. I hope there are any other of my friends on this planet because if the Decepticons are here and going to attack, they're going to need all the help they can get."

Snowstalker walked just outside the cave and stared off into the distance. "All the help they can get, indeed."

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hop you all liked part 1 of the new multi-parter for Dustformers: Season 2: Siege of Atlas. Things are falling into place here. **

**Atlas is continuing to prepare for the attack, The Autobots have discovered the Dinobots and needless to say, most of them are a little apprehensive about helping them, The Decepticons gather to plan their attack on Atlas, Ren has a dream like Jaune and Nora's, but in his, the robot that appears actually says more than his name, and there's some teasing from An Ren.**

**Also, Weiss almost breaks down worrying about Winter which is understandable for her. The others obviously comfort her and promise to help Atlas. More specifically, her sister.**

**In Decepticon Headquarters, we learn that Abyssica and Bloodsurge will be taking part in the battle in this multi-parter.**

**Furthermore, the snow leopard hinted at back in _Dustformers: Season 1_ turns out to be another Autobot OC of my creation named Snowstalker who seems to sense something is going to happen. She hopes for any other Autobots to be on Remnant.**

**As usual, if anyone has ideas for this multi-parter or Dustformers: Season 2 in general, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.**


	14. Siege of Atlas Part 2

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to Dustformers: Season 2. I've been on a Young Justice inspiration, but I'm finally back. We're continuing with the second multi-parter of this season.**

**Once again, I'd like to thank all my contributors: (OCs/Story Ideas)**

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

D3ADPOOLK1d

invictus113

Optimus912001

Perseus12

Sithlord-666

Lordofuselesness

TomtomtheWriter

Mol2311

**These people give me ideas for chapters I work on and for future ideas and for that, I deeply thank them. I hope for their continued support.**

**Now, let's dive right back in!**

* * *

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. General Ironwood's Quarters. 5:12 am*_

General Ironwood felt proud of himself. Atlas had all kinds of defenses set up. He felt confident that Atlas could withstand the attack of these alien beings. Plus, he was thinking of all the alien technology they would obtain. Atlas would be unstoppable. He was brought out of his musings by a knock on his door. "Come in."

General Faust walked in. "Everything's set up, General Ironwood. All our defenses are ready."

"Excellent news. We'll show these alien beings the might of Atlas!" General Ironwood proudly declared.

"We should still be cautious, sir." General Faust warned. "We still have no idea what these beings are capable of."

"That's why we must win this battle." General Ironwood insisted. "As I've said, we'll acquire so much advanced technology."

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Winter Schnee's Quarters. 5:14 am*_

Winter was sitting in her quarters worrying about her sister again. She's seen General Ironwood's fixation on Project: Cyber Warrior, and setting up all these defenses in Atlas all because of a supposed attack that was going to happen today.

She sighed as she was tired from waking up early so many times. "Weiss, are you with these beings?" She asked herself. She had actually read the report given to her by Corporal Matthew Weir and how some of these aliens actually helped them back in Anima. Too bad General Ironwood read the report as well and didn't believe a single word about some of the aliens being good.

"If there are good aliens here, I hope Weiss is with them instead of the bad ones." Winter muttered.

_*Vale. Vale City. Schnee Residence. Weiss Schnee's Room. 5:21 am*_

Weiss was tossing and turning in her bed. She was still worrying about Winter. She was beginning to sweat and mumble at a fast pace.

_*Weiss Schnee's Dreamscape*_

_Weiss was in the exact same white void as Jaune, Nora, and Ren described. Though, she was still sweating. She was still more focused on her sister. However, she saw a white and pink robot with a feminine figure holding a rapier in one hand and wings on the back standing there. __**"Weiss Schnee..."**_

_"Who are you?" Weiss asked._

"_**I am Asteria." **__The robot answered. _"_**It is nice to finally meet you. Three of your friends have already experienced dreams about other non-Decepticon Transformers, have they not?" **_

"_Yes, they have. How did you know about that?" Weiss asked, curious._

"_**That's for another time. Now, Atlas will be in danger very soon." **__Asteria warned as she unleashed a bright light._

_*Vale. Vale City. Schnee Residence. Weiss Schnee's Room. 5:24 am*_

Weiss woke up in a cold sweat. She looked down and saw her sleeping gown was soaked. She got up and changed into her usual clothing and went back to her bed. She couldn't go back to sleep however and began crying.

Soon enough, Willow walked in and saw her daughter in distress. She sat on Weiss's bed and hugged her. "Weiss, I'm here."

"Oh, Mother..." Weiss muttered while hugging Willow. "Atlas is in danger! I have to go with the others and the Autobots to help defend it! Plus, Winter is still there as well. Even though she's with the Atlas Military, she needs to be helped!"

Willow sighed in understanding. She didn't want her daughter to get hurt, but she also knew that she had to do this ever since she was told about the Autobots when they were brought to Atlas the first time. "I understand, Weiss. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I know, Mother. Still, if we don't do this, Atlas will cease to exist." Weiss explained. "I'm sorry, but I can't promise that I won't get hurt."

"Just be as careful as you can." Willow pleaded.

"Yes, Mother." Weiss slightly smiled.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. 6:12 am*_

The Decepticons were ready to head out to Atlas. It was time to put the attack in motion. "Those puny humans and faunus won't know what hit them." Flamewar grinned.

"Even if they do, they're too weak to stand a chance against us." Strikecharge added stoically.

"The project I'm planning has need for six vehicles. No doubt that Atlas has the vehicles I require." Shockwave reminded.

"Ah, yes. Let's not forget your overly convoluted plan that will fail in the end." Starscream mocked.

"Like your great plans never failed, right?" Slipstream grinned.

"She's got you there, Screamer." Skywarp laughed.

Starscream was fuming once again. "Need I remind you all that I killed the Autobot Wrecker Ironfist."

"Careful, Starscream. You could dislocate your armor patting yourself on the back." Octoshock rolled his eyes.

"Now, Decepticons. It is time to move out." Megatron smiled evilly. "Depth Strike, Aquasting, Octoshock, Cryopedo, Floodblast, Inkstrike, and Serpentide: You all will remain behind and look after our headquarters while we are gone. This Atlas is too cold for your specifically designed alternate modes."

"Yes, Lord Megatron." The selected five bowed.

With that, the locks on the ship opened and the Decepticons flooded out. Once out of the water, the Seekers transformed into their vehicle modes while the others just remained in robot mode. "To Atlas!" Megatron shouted.

_*Vale. Vale Forest. The Ark. Main Lobby. 7:45 am*_

The Autobots and kids were lounging around when the detection alarms went off. "The Decepticons are on the move!" Wheeljack exclaimed.

"Where to, Wheeljack?" Optimus asked.

Wheeljack stared at the screen for a moment before gaining a dead-serious expression. "Atlas." He answered very simply.

"Oh, no! Winter!" Weiss panicked. She was really close to breaking down again. The others saw this and hugged her.

"Don't worry, Weiss. We'll protect Atlas despite everything that's happened with them and us." Ruby reassured.

Weiss didn't respond and continued sniffling with tears flowing out. "We have to go to Atlas and help defend it from the Decepticons now."

"Autobots: Transform and roll out!" Optimus Prime declared. The Autobots excluding Ratchet and Wheeljack transformed into their vehicle modes.

"Here we go." Pyrrha said in Snipewing's cockpit.

"For Bumblebee." Snipewing muttered quietly as they entered the ground bridge. Once it closed, Ratchet sighed and went back to his quarters while Wheeljack remained in the main lobby with Teletraan-1.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. General Ironwood's Quarters. 8:55 am*_

Atlas's defenses were completely set up to combat the alien beings. Now, General Ironwood was now very confident that Atlas would acquire so much technology for the betterment of Remnant. "Now, we wait for the aliens to fall into our hands." He gained a smirk.

He began thinking about Atlas being the precipice of technology, having no other rivals. "Sir!" A private knocked on his door. "We've got multiple contacts incoming to Atlas at high speed!"

"Get everyone to your positions!" General Ironwood commanded.

"Yes, sir!" The Atlesian Private saluted and then left.

'_So, the time has finally come…" _General Ironwood thought as he walked out of his quarters and toward the command center.

_*Atlas. 10 kilometers outside Atlas Military Headquarters. 9:21 am*_

The Autobots and kids exited the ground bridge. Jaune and Nora were in their Transtectors. "So, now we wait." Arcknight muttered darkly.

"I can't wait to break some Decepticon legs!" Valkyria quietly cheered.

"First, they have to get here." Blake stated plainly.

"Speaking of which, I'm picking up their signals right now!" Ruby exclaimed.

Sure enough, the Decepticons were in flight and had arrived in Atlas. Atlesian Military forces on the ground had just seen the Decepticons and immediately opened fire. "Strikecharge, Flamewar: Dispense with those primitive devices!" Megatron commanded as he and the rest flew off.

"Yes, Megatron!" Strikecharge and Flamewar confirmed. They transformed into robot mode and began making short work of the soldiers despite being bombarded with tank shells, artillery fire, and all kinds of handheld guns.

However, before the last of the soldiers could be murdered in cold blood, the Autobots and kids raced out of their hiding spot and ran to the aid of the soldiers. "Autobots!" Flamewar screamed.

"You!" Strikecharge pointed to Arcknight in pure, undistilled anger. "You killed my brother!"

"I will fight the Decepticons and save Remnant to the bitter end!" Arcknight declared as he drew his sword, ready to fight.

"You will die by my fists!" Strikecharge shouted angrily as he charged Arcknight who easily blocked Strikecharge's fist. The Decepticon then tried a punch to Arcknight's body but was hurt by Arcknight's armor plating.

Arcknight retaliated by punching Strikecharge in the face which actually knocked him down to the ground. However, Strikecharge wasn't done yet. He did a sweep kick which knocked Arcknight off his feet. "See? You aren't better than me. I don't understand how you managed to kill my brother."

Arcknight's eyes widened. "Crossvolt was your brother?!"

"Yes. An enemy of the late Autobot Bumblebee. Megatron was right: That Autobot was a complete waste of Energon." Strikecharge mocked. Arcknight screamed in anger and began beating down on Strikecharge, punching him in the faceplate repeatedly, and he would've continued if Flamewar hadn't interfered by kicking him in the side.

"Wow! You're going berserk. That's not the way of an Autobot, is it?" Flamewar taunted as she raised her sword, ready to strike Arcknight down. However, she was shot by Snipewing who continued to do so.

Suddenly, a portal opened up and the two Decepticons went through it, but not before Strikecharge declared "I will destroy you, Arcknight! Even if it's the last thing I do!" With that, the portal closed.

"Now, since that's taken care of, let's get to Atlas Military Headquarters." Weiss commented. The Autobots and kids began heading to the location Weiss mentioned.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. 9:12 am*_

While Atlas itself was under siege, the Atlas Military were holding out against the Decepticons, but it really wasn't going well. Vehicles were being destroyed and soldiers were being slaughtered left and right. Blood was being splattered all over the ground and snow, bodies were thrown around on the battlefield. "General Ironwood! We're getting slaughtered here! We need backup!" A soldier shouted in pure desperation.

In the command center, the command staff were looking over the battle happening outside. "We're unleashing Project: Cyber Warrior!" General Ironwood declared.

"Sir, it's still not ready yet!" Dr. Clover shouted in panic.

"Dr. Clover: The project is ready now!" General Ironwood retorted in anger at being refuted. He took Dr. Clover's pad and pressed a button which turned on the four operational robots with their pilots already inside the cockpits.

Back outside, the Decepticons heard four engines approaching. "What is thar?" Thundercracker asked no one out loud.

"Those aren't Autobots. Their signatures aren't Cybertronian, though they do possess Cybertronian technology." Shockwave informed.

"Then what are they?" Starscream asked as he rolled his optics.

Seconds later, the four vehicles transformed into Iron Phantom, Argyos, Snowbreak, and Chillblade. "Your days on this planet are over, aliens!" Iron Phantom announced.

"Oh, our transistors are trembling." Starscream mocked as he fired his weapons. The other Decepticons followed suit, bombarding the creations of Project: Cyber Warrior.

"Time to put these babies to the test!" Argyos's pilot grinned as he pulled a lever and a sword popped out of Argyos's back which he pulled out and ran at the Decepticons with. The one to take him on was Hexblade as she had a sword of her own. The two clashed blades as the other three began fighting other Decepticons.

Iron Phantom was fighting Forcewind and Silverfly. All three were in their vehicular forms having a sort of dogfight. Forcewind unleashed a flurry of missiles, but Iron Phantom surprisingly dodged every single one of them. Iron Phantom then flew behind the two and unleashed his own missiles. Forcewind and Silverfly evaded them, but they were designed to track Cybertronians, so they hit the two Decepticons who fell back to the ground. Forcewind managed to get back up, but Silverfly exploded and was destroyed. "Take that, you alien scum!"

Snowbreak was taking on the Grimmcon Manic who was attempting to claw at her in his Beowolf mode. Snowbreak however had blades on her arms. She was doing well in fending off Manic's wild attacks so far, but it was only a matter of time before the blades broke. Snowbreak delivered a kick to Manic's chest which sent him back a couple of feet.

Chillblade was fighting the Vehicon Commander: Scramblast. Scramblast was foolishly not transforming into his flight mode while Chillblade was using his blaster to pepper the Vehicon Commander with holes despite his armor. Soon, Chillblade sent a shot through Scramblast's head, killing the Vehicon Commander instantly.

Megatron saw this in shock. Four organics in robotic shells managed to kill two Decepticons. Sure, one of them was merely a Vehicon Commander, but still, organics managed to do this. "ENOUGH!" Megatron roared as he fired his Fusion Cannon at the four robots, deactivating them immediately.

Back in the command center, everyone but General Ironwood were panicking. "I told you they weren't ready yet!" Dr. Clover shouted.

"Be quiet, Dr. Clover! We can see that!" General Ironwood shouted angrily as he slammed his fists on the table.

"How can I be quiet?! Good men and women are getting slaughtered out there, and our weapons except for those four robots are not even remotely effective!" Dr. Clover continued.

"What're we gonna do?" A commander asked in panic.

Outside, the Decepticons were once again slaughtering Atlesian soldiers and vehicles. Shockwave snuck off to acquire the six vehicles he needed for his project. Just as Megatron was about to fire his Fusion Cannon again, a laser rifle shot prevented him from doing so. He turned to see Optimus Prime and the Autobots standing there with determined expressions on their faces. "Well, well, well. The Autobots arrive to save the day once again. Though, it seems you're missing an Autobot, oh that's right! He's dead!" Starscream sadistically taunted.

"You do not have the right to say his name!" Snipewing screamed.

"Aw, did I touch a nerve in your cranial chamber?" Starscream continued.

"Now, you've spared us the trouble of hunting you all down and destroying you." Megatron calmly grinned.

"Soundwave superior, Autobots inferior." Soundwave stoically stated.

"Oh, shut it, you obsolete cassette deck!" Full-Throttle called out.

"Full-Throttle, how bout you don't taunt one of the strongest Decepticons on Remnant right now?" CLUTCH rhetorically advised.

"You will no longer kill sentient beings nor plunder this planet's resources!" Optimus declared.

"You would doom our planet to defend byproduct?" Megatron asked, pointing to the soldiers and kids.

"Better than let them be slaughtered by you monsters!" Zig shouted.

"Then try and stop us!" Skywarp goaded.

"I'll take you up on that offer!" Zig retorted. Soon enough, the Autobots and Decepticons charged at each other once again.

Zig and Zag took on Skywarp despite him being a Seeker. They fired their respective Neutron Assault Rifle and Nucleon Charge Rifle at Skywarp who flew into the air and fired a heat-seeking missile at the Autobot twins. The two dodged the missile and continued shooting at Skywarp.

"Once again, we must perform this dance of death." Trap Widow poetically growled. Her and Pursuit were clashing yet again. They were used to meeting on the battlefield most times at this point. Trap Widow fired at her former sparkmate with her legs. Pursuit managed to evade most of the shots, but a couple still hit him, making him hiss in pain.

Ironhide exchanged blows with the Grimmcon Maul. The old Autobot actually managed to pick Maul up despite the Grimmcon's weight. Ironhide then threw him to the ground, actually damaging some internal circuits. Though, Maul still got back up on his feet. Maul was about to run toward Ironhide, but Valkyria knocked him back down with her hammer. "Remember me?" Valkyria grinned.

"You sound familiar, and your weapon rings a bell." Maul squinted.

"Maybe this will jog your memory!" Valkyria happily cheered as she hit Maul's legs with her hammer, making him go down for the third time in a day. "Yeah! I hit your legs again!"

Yang was once again battling Hypnotica who was flying circles around the blonde brawler. "Stay still so I can hit you!" Yang growled. The Decepticon Pretender didn't respond and just began shooting at her. Yang ran to avoid the weapons fire, but was then being shot at by Abyssica and Bloodsurge. She saw resemblance with the two new Decepticons and Hypnotica. '_Hypnotica got it on with another Decepticon and had children?!" _Yang exclaimed in her mind. Suddenly, she was thrown into a tree by Bloodsurge. The trio were closing in on her, but then Ruby came to her rescue.

"You okay, Yang?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. Thanks, Rubes." Yang smiled.

"Hey, I always got your back, sis." Ruby smiled back as she fired rounds from Crescent Rose.

Arcknight was fighting Starscream who was mainly taunting him. "How can you defeat the mighty Starscream when you're just a puny human in a robot body." He then shot at Arcknight who dodged the shots and was remaining to stay focused on his opponent. He tried to kick Starscream who flew into the air for a second before landing back onto the ground. "Really? You can't even hit little old me."

This caused Arcknight to begin shooting at the Seeker Commander with shoulder cannons. "Ah!" Starscream lightly shrieked as he dodged the sudden weapons fire from Arcknight. The Atlesian soldiers joined in on the fight shooting at the Decepticons, determined to defend their home, including Winter Schnee who fired dust from her saber.

While all this was going on, Shockwave ran back out. "The six vehicles have been sent to our base, Lord Megatron." He informed. The Autobots looked in shock.

"Is that who I think it is?" Hound asked.

"I was hoping it wasn't." Jazz breathed.

"Shockwave." Elita-1 growled.

"Excellent. Now, destroy this inferior place." Megatron ordered as he fired his Fusion Cannon at the soldiers, hitting Winter Schnee and knocking her to the ground with newly formed cuts and bruises just from the blast.

"NO!" Weiss shrieked at the top of her lungs and she ran to her downed sister. Everyone looked at the scene with wide eyes and tears from the kids.

"W-Weiss…" Winter breathed.

Weiss turned to the Decepticons. "How dare you! You think you can just take whatever you want just because you deem us weaker than you! You're wrong! We're far stronger than you determine! We will defend our planet! I will defend my friends and family from you monsters!" All of a sudden, a bright light covered Weiss. Seconds later, a white, light blue, and slightly darker blue robot body with heel-like extremities on its feet was standing motionless. "Transform! Head on!" Weiss connected with the Transtector. "Now, I am Frostsprite!"

However, the Decepticons except for Megatron, Soundwave, and Shockwave started laughing at her name. "You think you can defeat us when you have a name like that?" Starscream giggled.

Frostsprite said nothing and unleashed spikes of ice from the ground with nothing but her hand, sending Starscream into the air and crashing back down. "Still think I'm just bark and no bite?" She grinned.

"No, no! You're a warrior! I'm sorry!" Starscream clasped his hands together before Megatron picked him up off his knee joints.

"Stop groveling, you filthy retro rat! Predacon: Destroy them!" Megatron roared.

The Predacon roared as it landed and immediately attacked the Autobots. Ironhide delivered a straight punch to the Predacon's front hip. This made the Predacon hiss in slight pain before it grabbed Ironhide with it's mouth and threw him to the ground. Then, it swung it's tail and slammed Hound, Zig, and Zag into a large tree. Full-Throttle jumped in the air for an attack, but the Predacon blasted him with it's fire. The Predacon roared as it continued it's attack. It grabbed Jazz and slammed him to the ground.

Suddenly, there was a louder roar. Everyone turned and saw Grimlock in his T-Rex form along with the other Dinobots standing a distance away from the supposed battlefield. "Well, looks like my old subjects are on this planet." Shockwave stoically stated.

Grimlock roared in pure anger. "SHOCKWAVE! YOU DIE!" He and the Dinobots charged at the Decepticons while the Predacon roared and charged towards the Dinobots...

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hope you all liked Siege of Atlas Part 2. This is a big battle and a few things have happened in this part: Decepticons Silverfly and Vehicon Commander Scramblast are killed by Project: Cyber Warrior, Weiss unlocks her Transtector: Frostsprite, the Predacon appears for the second time, and last but not least, the Dinobots have arrived.**

**Also, Shockwave has the six vehicles needed for his project. That's never good.**

**Many Atlesian Military soldiers get killed defending their home. Dr. Clover argues with General Ironwood while at the command center.**

**As usual, if anyone has any ideas for this story, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.**


	15. Siege of Atlas Part 3

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. The Dinobots have shown up in Atlas, Project: Cyber Warrior is mostly a failure, Weiss has unlocked her Transtector: Frostsprite, and Autobots are helping the Atlesians fight the Decepticons. Also, the Dinobots are about to engage in battle with the Predacon.**

**Mol2311: They'll come as regularly as I can.**

**Once again, I'd like to thank all my contributors: (OCs/Story Ideas)**

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

D3ADPOOLK1d

invictus113

Optimus912001

Perseus12

Sithlord-666

Lordofuselesness

TomtomtheWriter

Mol2311

**These people give me ideas for chapters I work on and for future ideas and for that, I deeply thank them. I hope for their continued support.**

* * *

_*Atlas. Autobots & Decepticons. 9:21 am*_

Grimlock and the Dinobots were clashing with the Predacon who was managing to fight all six Dinobots which was damn impressive. The Predacon got a distance back and shot fire at them, but Grimlock breathed his own fire, resulting in the two attacks colliding with each other. The blast sent out a wave of heat that melted some of the surrounding area, but Atlas was still cold enough to freeze everything over again.

Slug breathed fire at the Predacon's side which caused it to hiss in slight pain before grabbing to robotic Triceratops and slamming him to the ground. However, this gave Swoop the opportunity to fire missiles which hit their target.

Sludge whacked the Predacon with his tail which almost knocked it onto its side, but the Predacon was stronger than that as it endured the attack as it used it's own tail to knock Sludge away

The Predacon redirected its attention solely on Grimlock who roared at it. The Predacon angrily roared back. The two clashed again with Grimlock biting deeply into the Predacon's leg, causing it to roar loudly in pain.

This gave Slash the opportunity to start clawing at it, managing to slightly dig into it's metal plating. However, the Predacon rolled over which got Slash off of it.

Meanwhile, the Autobots and kids were combating the Decepticons while this was going on. They still had to defend Atlas, after all. Yang and Ruby were fighting Abyssica and Bloodsurge who were dodging most of their attacks with relative ease. "Is that the best you two can seriously do?" Bloodsurge mocked as he shot blasts as the sisters, knocking them back a couple of feet.

"How are you two fighting alongside the Autobots? What a joke." Abyssica added in her brother's mockery of Ruby and Yang. This started pissing Yang off, but thankfully Ruby was there to reign her in.

"Yang, don't listen to them! We're not a joke! Remember what we did with Grimmlord!" Ruby screamed, succeeding in calming Yang down who then fired shots from her gauntlets, distracting the two which allowed her sister to hit them both with multiple shots from Crescent Rose. "Take that!"

Blake, for once was helping Pursuit fight Trap Widow. "So, this is the miserable worm you've sworn to protect!" Trap Widow spat distastefully.

"Ugh! There's no other way I can describe you! You're a fucking crazy spider! Even as a Decepticon, what did Pursuit ever see in you?!" Blake retorted which had the desired effect. Trap Widow screamed near the top of her vocal processors and sprinted towards Blake which gave Pursuit the opportunity to kick her away into a tree. "Hook, line, and sinker." Blake grinned.

Frostsprite was dealing with Grimmcons Manic and Meanstrike who were having a surprisingly hard time dealing with her since she jumped onto a ledge. "Damn it! Stand still so we can shred you into scrap!" Manic shouted angrily.

"Sorry, boys. That's gonna be a no!" Frostsprite grinned as she brought out her rapier. "En garde!" Meanstrike growled menacingly as he transformed to robot mode and pulled out a naginata. "Oooh, that's new." Meanstrike jumped up and tried slashing Frostsprite who only proceeded to duck under the attack and stab him with her new rapier.

Manic jumped up next to try his luck. He brought up his claws to begin slashing Frostsprite to piece, but she was too quick for him as she jumped higher, and fired laser shots from her rapier which knocked Manic back onto the ground o his back.

Valkyria and Arcknight were tag-teaming Cindershot who was surprisingly barely able to dodge the combined efforts of the two combatants. Whenever he'd deal with Arcknight, he'd get blindsided by Valkyria, and whenever he'd shift his focus to Valkyria, Arcknight would take advantage of his distraction. Transforming into his Grimm Wyvern mode, he flew up into the air to launch an aerial attack on the two. "Come on! Fight fairly!" Valkyria shouted, shaking her fist.

"He's a Decepticon, Valkyria. They don't do fair." Arcknight deadpanned.

"Well, then. He's taking some of these!" Valkyria screamed as she brought out her grenade launcher and fired multiple grenades with hearts with valkyrie wings on them at Cindershot who was being bombarded with explosions, eventually being brought down. However, Cindershot made himself hit the ground with force, blowing the two away, but the landed on their feet.

"This is getting close!" Zig exclaimed as she continued firing.

"You're telling me! We're defending an entire continent against the Decepticons!" Zag retorted as she hit Skywarp in the leg joint.

"Lord Megatron, we should fall back to the base!" Starscream shouted.

"We will not retreat until the Autobots and these humans and faunus are dead!" Megatron shouted back and fired his Fusion Cannon at Arcknight and Valkyria, knocking them both down in less than a second.

"Jaune! Nora!" Pyrrha screamed in fear, but couldn't do anything to help as she was fighting Ravage who was ejected from Soundwave's chest compartment. Ravage was attempting to bat her around, but thankfully, Pyrrha had her semblance and just flung him backwards.

"I'd say we're doing okay, CLUTCH!" Full-Throttle grinned as he kicked Thundercracker away. He then shot at Hexblade who evaded the blasts. "Whoo! Another hottie! Seriously, have model femmes joined the Decepticons because that is just not fair!"

"Full-Throttle! We went through this same thing with Flamewar!" CLUTCH reminded. "No flirting with Decepticons!

"Come on, CLUTCH! How can I not flirt with either of them? They're both smoking!" Full-Throttle retorted.

"Grimmcons: Combine and go for the slaughter!" Megatron commanded.

The five Grimmcons obeyed and began the combination process. The Autobots and kids were on full alert once they saw the same thing that happened two months ago happen again. There was no doubt about it: Grimmlord was back!

"PREPARE FOR OBLIVION, AUTOBOTS!" Grimmlord roared, unleashing his scythe for everyone to see, and to say the least, those who weren't the Autobots and kids were scared shitless.

In the command bunker, General Ironwood and the others had their eyes wide and jaws dropped. Questions were burning through their minds by the minute. "What is that?" One of them quietly asked in utter fear.

"We've never seen that before!" Dr. Clovis shouted. General Ironwood remained silent when Dr. Clovis shouted that.

Back with the battle, Grimmlord was towering over the battlefield once again. "Decepticons! Return to base! We have what we came for! Grimmlord: Destroy them all. Once you have, return to us!" Megatron ordered.

"AS YOU COMMAND, LORD MEGATRON!" Grimmlord uttered as the Decepticons went through the space bridge, including the Predacon.

"SHOCKWAVE!" Grimlock bellowed in pure unadulterated rage as he was about to charge after them, but was stopped by his teammates.

"Grimlock! There will be another time! Right now, we got bigger things to worry about!" Swoop reminded, pointing to Grimmlord. "We have to help them! We're still Autobots!"

Grimlock let out a heavy sigh. "Alright. DINOBOTS: UNITE!" Now, the Dinobots transformed, beginning their own combination sequence. The Autobots and kids watched this in utter awe. Sludge and Snarl formed legs, Slug and Swoop formed arms while Grimlock formed a torso. The five joined together with Slash left out. A new head popped up and let out a ferocious roar. "VOLCANUCIS IS HERE! DESTROY GRIMMLORD!" He suddenly ran up to Grimmlord and delivered a mighty punch to Grimmlord, actually knocking him off his feet.

Grimmlord quickly got back up, though and performed a powerful, getting Volcanicus off balance, but the Dinobot Combiner held his ground. Meanwhile, the Autobots and kids were still mostly speechless until Valkyria broke the ice. "OH, MY OUM! THAT'S THE MOST AWESOME THING I'VE EVER SEEN!" She practically had stars in her eyes.

"Uh, did you guys know they could do that at all?" Yang asked, still shocked at what was happening right in front of her.

"No, we didn't." Jazz responded, just as shocked.

"This is something for a scrapbook." Blake muttered, her eyes wide.

"It's spectacular, isn't it?" Slash rhetorically asked as she walked up beside them. "Don't worry. I'm not going to fight you. I'm Slash."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Frostsprite. These are Arcknight and Valkyria. The humans and faunus are Ruby, Yang, Blake, Pyrrha, and Ren." Frostsprite introduced.

"What's the name of the Combiner we're seeing right now?" Snipewing asked.

"Volcanicus." Slash grinned.

"Whoa!" Ruby and Yang breathed.

Volcanicus brought out a sword to battle Grimmlord's scythe. The weapons met with a fierce clang, creating a moderate tremor. Volcanicus slashed Grimmlord in the shoulder, picked him up, and then threw him to the ground, hard. In fact, the impact was so hard it caused Grimmlord to split apart back into his components. "We will be back!" Cindershot shouted as he and the other Grimmcons retreated through their portal.

Volcanicus let out another ear-shattering roar before splitting apart. After that, the Autobots, kids, and Slash walked up to them. "That was awesome!" Nora gushed.

Slug, thought startled at first managed to sport a grin. "Thanks, kid."

"Thank you. Without you all, we would've lost this battle." Optimus stated.

"This just proves that you don't have the spark to do what it takes to win this war." Grimlock growled.

"No! It just means we actually remember that there are innocents to protect!" Ironhide angrily interjected. "Plus, we don't abandon comrades when they need us most!"

Grimlock angrily roared back in Ironhide's face, but the old Bot firmly stood his ground. Despite being a lot older, Ironhide was still one of the toughest of the tough and wasn't scared in the slightest.

"Grimlock, come on!" Swoop implored, putting his hand on his leader's shoulder.

Grimlock let out another growl. "Another time." With that, he and the other Dinobots walked off, but not before Swoop and Slash sent them apologetic looks.

Suddenly, General Ironwood appeared a plethora of soldiers and vehicles. "Surrender now! Make this easy and you won't be harmed!" He threatened.

"With all due respect sir, but are you out of your fucking mind?! If it wasn't for these ones, Atlas would be nothing ruins!" An Atlesian Military soldier frantically retorted. "Especially with that giant one that came out of nowhere!"

"You mean the one with the scythe that's appeared once before! These kids somehow managed to bring it down, so we need to take them in for interrogation!" General Ironwood rebutted.

"You had information on that one the whole time and you didn't think to share it with the rest of us?!" Dr. Clovis shouted.

"It didn't seem like a good idea at the time!" General Ironwood shouted. "What matters now is that we capture these ones and the kids and learn all their secrets!" Suddenly, a portal opened up behind the Autobots. "Get them before they escape!" However, what he saw were his own soldiers and personnel, including Dr. Clovis standing defiantly in front of them. "What is this insubordination?!"

"You threatened my sister, General, and I should've done this a long time ago." Winter growled as she deactivated her tracking device.

"YOU'RE ALL TRAITORS TO ATLAS AND IT'S FUTURE!" General Ironwood bellowed, but before he could do anything, one of the soldiers threw a flashbang, blinding him and the others.

_*Vale Forest. The Ark. Main Lobby. 12:34 pm*_

The Autobots and kids were back in safe territory. Their parents were there also. "Oh, my little lotus!" An cried bringing in her son for a tight hug. Said son, blushed at her mother using his nickname. Nora and the others giggled.

"Ruby, I thought I would lose you!" Summer bawled, tears freely flowing.

"I'm still here, Mom. I'm still here." Ruby assured.

"Yang, you absolutely scared the shit out of this." Tai groaned, finally able to rest easy again.

"Sorry about that, Dad." Yang sheepishly muttered as Raven joined in on the hug.

"Winter, I'm so glad you realized that the Autobots are the good guys." Weiss cried, snuggling into her sister's side.

"Winter hugged Weiss back. "I'm so sorry it took me this long to realize it."

"You should be." Jaune cut in. "Your superior's hubris got a lot of people killed. Your Project: Cyber Warrior didn't work. Now, the Decepticons know your capability."

Everyone remained silent after Jaune said that, waiting to see the reaction. Winter merely sighed. "I admit that General Ironwood's actions have made me question a lot. Once again, I deeply apologize. I want to help you all."

"Of course, sister." Weiss smiled. "You're always welcome with us." Winter's smile returned and she hugged her sister again.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Main Hall. 12:29 pm*_

All the Decepticons, minus Shockwave were gathered cause Megatron had something important to say. "Decepticons, someone tipped off the Atlas Military of our operation."

"Who would have the audacity to sell out the glorious Decepticons, Lord Megatron?" Starscream asked, feigning ignorace.

"Soundwave, play back Laserbeak's findings." Megatron ordered.

"As you command, Megatron." Soundwave acknowledged as he transformed into his cassette player mode and played back Laserbeak's recording. _"Once I send this, the Atlas Military will set up defenses. No doubt that this will screw up Shockwave's plans." _Starscream's voice played back.

Everyone looked at Starscream with annoyed, angry, and deadpan expressions. "Seriously, Starscream? Another failed ploy?" Trap Widow rolled her eyes at this cliche scenario.

"T-That's not me! I would never betray the Decepticons!" Starscream tried to defend himself, but Megatron was having none of it.

"SILENCE, STARSCREAM!" Megatron roared as he shot him with his Fusion Cannon, sending the Seeker into a wall. Slowly walking over, he aimed his Fusion Cannon. "I can destroy you right now. You know that."

"P-Please, Lord Megatron! Spare me!" Starscream begged on his knees. Megatron merely proceeded to growl and walk out, the other Decepticons behind him. "One of these days, Megatron..."

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hope you all liked the final part of Siege of Atlas. A couple treats were in this chapter/episode. Grimlock and all the Dinobots fought the Predacon which I hope people liked, Grimmlord made another appearance, Volcanicus made his debut in this chapter, and Winter among other Atlesian Military personnel, including Dr. Lucas Clovis defended the Autobots and kids, rightfully saying that if it wasn't for them, Atlas would be nothing but a pile of rubble and ash. Also, Megatron shoots Starscream for tipping off the enemy. Good old Soundwave spying on people, right, everyone?**

**Dr. Lucas Clovis was especially angry at General Ironwood for withholding valuable information about Grimmlord. Winter was not happy with the general either for threatening her sister.**

**Also, Ironhide isn't scared of Grimlock or any of the Dinobots despite seeing five of them combine. Grimlock may be young and tough, but Ironhide's got a hell of a lot more experience and has been through a hell of a lot more. There are reasons why he's called Ironhide.**

**Fourthly, General Ironwood's gone off the deep end, straight up threatening the Autobots and kids despite them saving most of Atlas. Some of it did get completely destroyed and he says 'Atlas and it's future', not Remnant and it's future. That means something, doesn't it?**

**As usual, if anyone has any ideas for this story, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.**


	16. The Commandos

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. Last time we were here, we just finished the **_**Siege of Atlas**_ **multi-parter which I hope everyone liked. The Dinobots and Grimmcons had a huge fight as Volcanicus and Grimmlord, though Slash had to stay in the background, but before that, the Dinobots engaged in battle with the Predacon, actually managing to damage it a little, General Ironwood begins to reveal himself when he declares Winter and others who defend the Autobots traitors to Atlas and it's future.**

**Not to mention, Megatron shoots Starscream into a wall for tipping off the Atlas Military of their attack all because Laserbeak spied on him. Good old Soundwave.**

**Once again, I'd like to thank all my contributors: (OCs/Story Ideas)**

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

D3ADPOOLK1d

invictus113

Optimus912001

Perseus12

Sithlord-666

Lordofuselesness

TomtomtheWriter

Mol2311

**These people give me ideas for chapters I work on and for future ideas and for that, I deeply thank them. I hope for their continued support.**

* * *

_*Vale. 30 kilometers outside Vale City Limits. Abandoned Warehouse. 15:23 pm*_

The kids, their families, Winter and the other Atlesian Military defectors were inspecting the warehouse to see if it would fit Winter and the others. "It's certainly spacious." Dr. Clovis commented.

"Which is perfect for the Autobots." One of the former Atlesian Military soldiers added.

"Not to mention Atlas won't be able to find us since we've disconnected our trackers." Another former Atlesian Military soldier cut in.

"Thank Oum for that." Jaune darkly muttered. It was no secret to the others and their families, including his own that Jaune now held some animosity toward the Atlas Military for their abduction and coercion into helping them try to discover any perceived weak point of the Transformers.

"Do you think any other Transformers will come to Remnant?" Corporal Weir asked. He and his group came to Winter's location when they were informed that her tracker was deactivated.

"Based on the track record so far, I'd say yes." Blake answered calmly.

"Right now, I'd be more focused on what Shockwave plans to do with those six vehicles he took from Atlas." Weiss brought up.

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Shockwave's Quarters. 17:41 pm*_

The Decepticon scientist was tinkering with the six vehicles he 'acquired' from Atlas during their attack. All of them were lined up in his laboratory as he tinkered with them. Not only that, but he had six chips of some kind lying on a control console. "Soon, you six will have life."

Soon, he picked up the six chips and inserted them into the vehicles. Said six vehicles suddenly had bright lights glowing where the chips were inserted. Seconds later, the vehicles were brought to life. "Arise, Commandos!"

The dark purple and dark blue Battleship transformed with battleship cannons on his back and arms. "Welcome to the world of the online, Maelstrom."

The dark purple and steel ZIL-29061transformed to robot mode and had a more feminine figure She had drill wheels on the front of her legs and a poled drill weapon on her back. "Good to have you, Subterror."

The dark purple and dark green Schwerer Gustav transformed and he had two smaller cannons on his back. "You will be a great benefit to our cause, Gustav Max."

The dark purple and light blue Patrol Boat transformed and like Subterror, had a feminine figure, but it was a little more curved than Subterror's. "You will provide a nautical advantage, Sly Strike."

The dark purple and orange Space Shuttle transformed to robot mode. "You bear some resemblance to another comrade, Air Burst."

Last but not least, the dark purple and black B-2 Spirit Bomber transformed which also had a feminine figure, but it was more muscular than the other two. "Ah, Smart Strike. Welcome."

_*Southern Vale Ocean. The Nemesis. Main Hall. 19:00 pm*_

Megatron and the other Decepticons were once again summoned to the main hall by Shockwave. The Predacon was also there, just lying there. "I wonder what Shockwave has called us here for this time." Thundercracker pondered.

"Maybe it's another Predacon." Skywarp guessed.

"Whatever it is, it will fail like the Predacon did against the Dinobots." Starscream mocked.

"I don't think you should be talking, Starscream. After all, it was you who tipped off Atlas about our attack on them." Flamewar reminded.

"Not to mention you got beaten by the human Weiss who turned into an Autobot named Frostsprite." Strikecharge snickered.

"Oh, yeah!" Octoshock began laughing out loud, but immediately stopped when Shockwave and the Commandos entered the room.

"Who are these six, Shockwave?" Megatron asked.

"Meet the culmination of one of my projects, Lord Megatron: The Commandos! Maelstrom, Subterror, Gustav Max, Sly Strike, Air Burst, and Smart Strike!" Shockwave announced.

The other Decepticons were admiring the Commandos. Thrillipede, Floodblast, and Trap Widow were starting to drool over Maelstrom's more muscular form while the other male Decepticons just couldn't take their optics away from Subterror and Sly Strike.

"Excellent work, Shockwave." Megatron grinned. "Even in defeat, you manage to find some success."

"There he goes, kissing up to Megatron." Starscream angrily whispered.

"Maybe because Shockwave is actually able to accomplish tasks unlike you." Sly Strike teased with a grin. Starscream sputtered as the others snickered.

"Calm yourself, Sly Strike." Maelstrom softly ordered.

"Sorry, sir." Sly Strike softly apologized.

"I want to destroy things!" Gustav Max shouted.

"Don't worry, Gustav Max. I have a feeling you'll get your chance." Air Burst commented.

"Like you can say that, Air Burst." Sly Strike retorted. "All you can do is just stick around up in the air."

"Enough." Shockwave ordered. "Lord Megatron, might I suggest that they be given a test run."

"An excellent idea, Shockwave. You may pick whatever location you deem fit." Megatron said.

_*Vale. Vale City. Arc Residence. 20:30 pm*_

The others were having a sleepover at Jaune's house, but this was also meant as a means to talk to him about how he's been acting with the Atlesian Military defects. "Alright, Jaune. Not that we're not happy to be here, but we also want to talk about your attitude towards my sister and the others." Weiss stated.

"Look, you know after what happened, what with our abductions and all, I don't trust anyone from the Atlas Military, not to forget that General Ironwood's slowly becoming a nutcase." Jaune brought up.

"While that is true, this is my sister we're talking about. She deserted General Ironwood along with all of those in that warehouse." Weiss retorted. "Believe me, Jaune. I do understand your distrust, but please, try to trust them. It'll hurt more if you don't even try."

"Jaune, we know you're still reeling from Bumblebee's death." Jaune visibly flinched at Yang's reminder of the death of his best friend from another world. "I know I would feel the exact same if Wildfire died. My point is, if you continue like this, you'll fall into a darkness you won't be able to escape from."

Jaune sighs heavily. He knew Weiss and Yang were right, but there was now a dark place in his mind that felt like it was trying to take over. "I know you're right, but right now, there's something in my mind that feels like it's screaming that you're wrong."

"Come on, Jauney. It's time to move on. This is destroying you." Nora was close to begging.

"I-I don't know if I can." Jaune rubbed the back of his head.

_*Vale. __30 kilometers outside Vale City Limits.__ Abandoned Warehouse. 6:01 am*_

The next day, Winter and the other Atlesian Military defects had woken up an hour ago. They were still setting up their equipment they took from Atlas after disabling all the trackers in them. "Well, this is all of it." Private Spyke informed.

"Good work, Private Spyke." Dr. Clovis smiled. "If we are going to help our Autobot friends, we have to be there every step of the way."

"Nice, but I have the feeling that Arc kid doesn't trust us." Corporal Weir stated.

"Not like we can blame, what with us abducting their families and all." Private Rayne reminded.

"We have to think of some way to make him start to trust us." Private Bueller said.

Suddenly, the heard weapons fire a few miles outside their new base. They ran outside and saw the Commandos randomly destroying or was it? Looking closer, they saw they were destroying abandoned houses near a village. "Have we seen those Decepticons before?" Winter asked.

"No. They're new." Corporal Weir answered. "We'd better call those kids, Winter."

"Good idea, Corporal Weir." Winter agreed as she pulled out her scroll.

_*Vale. Vale City. Arc Residence. 6:41 am*_

Jaune and the others had only woken up a few minutes and had breakfast when Weiss got a call on her scroll. Seeing it was Winter, she immediately answered. "Winter? What's wrong?"

_"Weiss! There are six new Decepticons near our area!" _Winter shouted.

"Alright. We'll be down there right away." Weiss assured and the call ended. "Let's get going." As soon as she said that, the ground bridge opened up and they went through.

_*Vale. 30 kilometers outside Vale City Limits. Abandoned Warehouse. 7:02 am*_

The kids came through with Ironhide, Pursuit, Snipewing, Hound, Wildfire, Zig, and Zag in tow. The Atlesian Military defects were already there to meet them. "Alright. Where are these Decepticons?" Zig asked.

"Over there. Follow us." Private Bueller gestured. They did just that and saw the Commandos.

"Yeah, they're definitely new." Wildfire said. "Shockwave must be tinkering around once again."

"Enemies detected!" Air Burst announced as he fired his weapons at the group.

"Move!" Winter ordered and everyone moved out of the weapon's fire. Suddenly, Subterror popped out of the ground and attacked them. With her, they barely managed to dodge that. If that wasn't enough, Gustav Max fired his cannons at the ground, knocking them onto their backs.

Sly Strike and Smart Strike fired many missiles at the group who barely got up to evade them just in the nick of time. "These Decepti-creeps are highly coordinated!" Snipewing exclaimed.

"You have no idea, Autoscum!" Air Burst taunted as he continued firing his weapons. They hit the ground, knocking the group down again.

Sly Strike was standing a couple feet from Wildfire. "Wow! You think you have mechs falling at your feet? Please, you don't have a figure compared to me." She mocked.

"Maelstrom, sir. I think it's time to finish this battle." Air Burst suggested.

"I like the way you think, Air Burst. Commandos! Unite!" Maelstrom shouted. The kids knew what was coming due to experience with Grimmlord and Infestor. Maelstrom transformed into a torso while Air Burst and Sly Strike formed right and left arms respectively, Gustav Max transformed into legs, and Smart Strike and Subterror formed right and left hands.

"NOW YOU FACE WARBOTRON!" The new Combiner declared.

"Oh, dear Oum! Not another one!" Yang complained. "We already have two of these guys to deal with!"

Warbotron fired from the cannons on his back, shelling the ground. The entire group fired back, but the new Combiner didn't feel it at all. Instead, Warbotron fired a handheld cannon at them which hit directly where they were running, sending them to the ground once again.

"This Combiner seems smarter than Grimmlord and Infestor!" Jaune shouted.

"It does seem like this Warbotron knows a lot about tactics!" Pyrrha agreed.

Warbotron brought his right hand down which had a hidden triple drill that quickly shot outward. The kids, Atlesians, and Autobots jumped out of the way and resumed firing. This caused Warbotron to stand fully upright again. "YOU THINK THAT WILL HURT US?! NOTHING CAN MATCH WARBOTRON!" He declared as he fired all his weapons, scattering the kids and Autobots all over the place. "THESE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE KIDS WHO HAVE STOPPED OUR COMRADES? PATHETIC! YOU ALL HAVE NO TACT!"

A ground bridge appeared and Warbotron separated back into his components and they walked through. After that, the group got back up. Jaune said nothing to Winter and the other Atlesians and walked away. Pyrrha followed him while the others stayed to talk to them. "Thank you for letting us know about this new Decepticon team." Hound thanked.

"No problem. We want to prove that we actually mean we've defected from the Atlas Military." Private Spyke insisted.

"We realized our mistakes when the Decpepticons attacked Atlas." Dr. Clovis added.

"We're willing to make up for our mistakes." Winter finished. Weiss hugged her sister. "If only General Ironwood could see that not all Transformers are evil."

"Doubtful on that one, Ice Queen." Yang said with seriousness. "You saw how he got before we came back to Vale."

"Yes, Well, we will continue to do our best to make you all trust us, especially Mr. Arc." Winter was determined.

_*Cybertron. Unknown Location. Unknown Time.*_

The strange Decepticon wielding the strange pickaxe weapon was overlooking a large ship. "It's almost time..."

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hope you all liked this chapter of Dustformers: Season 2. We've finally gotten to a chapter/episode I've been waiting to write for a long time: The Commandos! Now, these Commandos aren't the same ones from 2001 Robots In Disguise, but an OC version given by OC Conrtibutor: cryo threshold. Like the actual Commandos team, they can also combine, but into a robot called Warbotron.**

**These Commandos consist of:**

**Maelstrom- The leader of the team who transforms into a Battleship.**

**Subterror- A quiet individual who transforms into a ZIL-29061 (with a mining drill on the front).**

**Gustav Max- A big and stupid bruiser, but makes up for the lack of brains with brawn. He transforms into a Schwerer Gustav.**

**Sly Strike- A femme fatale who treats her comrades with respect and transforms into a Patrol Boat.**

**Air Burst- The air support of the team who transforms into a space shuttle.**

**Smart Strike- Despite her looks, she's a quiet individual like Subterror and transforms into a B-2 Spirit Bomber.**

**Warbotron is the combined form of the six of them, giving the Decepticons another tactical advantage. Thank you, cryo threshold for this Decepticon Combiner team. Now, this team have similar designs to actual characters from multiple Transformers series. They'll have more time to shine in Dustformers now that they're here.**

**Now, that's not the only thing in the chapter/episode however. Jaune expresses his distrust for Winter and the others which is mostly understandable considering they were all abducted. The others, especially Weiss try to convince him to try and move on and start to trust them.**

**In the meantime, we pay another visit to Cybertron where we see the same, pickaxe wielding Decepticon overseeing a large ship. What could this mean?**

**As usual, if anyone has any ideas for this story, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.**


	17. Secret? What Secret?

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. In the last chapter, Winter and the other Atlesian Military defectors find a warehouse to stay in, Shockwave makes the Commandos out of the six vehicles taken from Atlas, The other kids talk to Jaune about his attitude towards Winter and the others, the Autobots faced the Commandos who demonstrated the ability to combine into Warbotron, and finally, we revisit Cybertron where the strange Transformer is overlooking a large ship. So yeah, quite a bit happened in the last chapter.**

**Once again, I'd like to thank all my contributors: (OCs/Story Ideas)**

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

D3ADPOOLK1d

invictus113

Optimus912001

Perseus12

Sithlord-666

Lordofuselesness

TomtomtheWriter

Mol2311

**These people give me ideas for chapters I work on and for future ideas and for that, I deeply thank them. I hope for their continued support.**

* * *

_*Cybertron. Unknown Location. Unknown Time.*_

The strange robot was sitting in some kind of throne room. A blue and seafoam green Transformer walked up to the throne. "Lord Straxus, the ship is nearly complete."

"Excellent news, Tsunami." Straxus responded. "Where's Deadfire?"

"I'm right here, my lord." Deadfire responded in a female voice as a raspberry red and plum Decepticon walked in.

"What have you to report?" Straxus asked, his body still concealed in darkness.

"Your forces are ready, my lord." Deadfire bowed.

"More excellent news." Straxus's red eyes glowed brighter at hearing that.

"Lord Straxus, Novawing has also reported that our little project is nearly ready for testing." Deadfire added.

"Very good." Straxus chuckled darkly. "Leave me, you two."

Deadfire and Tsunami left at Straxus's request, leaving him in silence within his throne room. Looking out a window, he began gazing into space. "Soon, it will begin." Suddenly, an energy blast slightly shook the throne room, making his eyes glow brighter. "Who dares to encroach?"

_*Remnant. Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen Residence. 6:01 am*_

Ruby and Yang had gotten up earlier than usual even though it wasn't a school day. Their minds were kind of preoccupied with the same thoughts. "Rubes, do you find it odd that everyone but us have seen a strange looking Transformer in our dreams?" Yang finally asked.

"Now that you mention it, yeah. I wonder why that is." Ruby brought her hand to her chin.

"Maybe it requires something special to allow a bot to show up in our dreams." Yang shrugged, a little confused.

"That's a possibility." Ruby nodded.

"Also, if I may bring something up, Winter and the others did let us and the Autobots know about those new Decepticons." Yang suddenly remembered.

Ruby picked up on the subject change quickly. "That is true, but despite that, not many of us or the bots trust them, especially Jaune."

"Well, Winter is Weiss's sister, so Weiss will voice for her." Yang added.

"That doesn't change the fact that Jaune definitely doesn't trust them, and probably never will." Ruby retorted.

"Unless something happens that causes him to rethink things about Winter and the others." Yang shot back.

"Why do I get the feeling that something's gonna happen to warrant that?" Ruby asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Simple: The Transformers." Yang sported a grin.

"On that note, I hope a new Autobot comes. With the Decepticons having six new members to bolster their forces, we're gonna need all the bots we can get." Ruby stated.

"True that." Yang agreed.

_*__Vale. 30 kilometers outside Vale City Limits. Abandoned Warehouse. 6:10 am*_

Dr. Clovis had been up since 2 in the morning, working on new designs. He was so immersed with what he was doing that he didn't notice Winter walking up behind him. "What are you working on, Dr. Clovis?" She asked.

Dr. Clovis jumped up in shock. "Oh, sorry, Winter. I didn't hear you walk in. I've been working on new vehicle designs so we can actually operate here without being detected by Atlesian forces."

"Good work, Lucas." Winter gained a small smile.

"I'm just still pissed at Ironwood for not revealing any information about that giant robot back at Atlas." Dr. Clovis admitted.

"I understand your anger and frustration." Winter sighed. "The man threatened to arrest my own sister in front of me, everybody."

"Not to mention ordering the arrest of the robots who actually helped defend Atlas." Dr. Clovis added.

"That's why we're in Vale: To make a brand-new start." Winter reminded.

"Maybe we can make our own organization." Dr. Clovis suggested.

"That… isn't a bad idea." Winter pondered. "However, for now, we must remain very, very vigilant. We don't know what the Atlas Military are up to as we speak."

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. General Ironwood's Quarters. 7:43 am*_

General Ironwood was still steaming angry from what occurred a while ago with the Decepticons storming Atlas, the Autobots and the kids escaped again, and to add on top of that: Winter, Dr. Clovis and other soldiers left with them! He slammed his fists on his desk hard. "GODDAMNIT!"

General Faust ran in, thinking something bad had happened to Ironwood. "Are you okay, sir?!"

General Ironwood calmed down enough to respond to General Faust. "Yes, General Faust, I am okay somewhat."

"With permission, sir, but you don't really sound fine with how you were crying out." General Faust stated.

"You are right on that front, Irene. We lost our main scientist for Project: Cyber Warrior, we lost those robots and those kids. On top of that, Winter, along with many other soldiers have deserted the Atlas Military, and for what?! FOR WHAT?!" Ironwood roared.

"Keep your cool, General Ironwood." General Faust insisted. "I have a few projects I've been assembling a few new divisions and specialized squadrons for."

"I see. Would you mind telling what those are?" General Ironwood was calming down somewhat.

"I've been assembling a new division called Darkstar." General Faust revealed.

"Show me." General Ironwood was slowly gaining a new smile.

_*Atlas. Atlas Military Headquarters. Darkstar Division Quarters. 8:12 am*_

General Faust and General Ironwood walked into the quarters of the new Darkstar Division. What he saw impressed him greatly: A bunch of Atlesian Military soldiers though wearing black and red uniforms, multiple vehicles being built, and even a man-made Transformer that had a black and blue color scheme. "Very excellent to see." General Ironwood grinned.

"Thank you, General Ironwood." General Faust grinned back. "Just because we lost Dr. Clovis doesn't mean we've lost Project: Cyber Warrior."

"This is very enticing news indeed." General Ironwood kept his grin. "What is the name for this bot?"

"I was thinking Wild Streak." General Faust answered.

"A good name. I assume it's more of a ground unit instead of air" General Faust reasoned.

"We will have their technology and bring peace to Remnant." General Faust reminded.

_*Vale. Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen Residence. Ruby & Yang. 13:31 pm*_

Ruby and Yang were taking a nap as they were a little tired today. However, this would cause something to happen. While they were napping, their dreams would take a turn.

_*Ruby & Yang's Dreamscape. Unknown Time.*_

_Ruby and Yang were in a white void that all their friends had wound up in. "Is this where the others wound up in during their dreams?" Yang asked._

_"It has to be." Ruby answered._

**_"Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long..."_** _A voice called out. The sisters turned to the source which turned out to be a large white and silver robot with a feminine figure and wings and a crown-like tiara on it's head. **"I am Helia. It is nice to meet you two." **She waved at Ruby and Yang._

_"Nice to meet you too, Helia." Yang waved._

_"Why are you contacting us?" Ruby asked, curious._

**_"To let you know that a great secret is hidden on your planet." _**_Helia answered._

_"What secret?" Yang asked._

**_"It is..."_**_ Helia was cut off for some reason as a bright light covered the entire void._

_*Remnant. Vale. Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen Residence. Ruby & Yang. 14:18 pm*_

When Yang and Ruby woke up, they were astonished as they not only finally had a Transformer pop up in their dream, but this Helia tried to tell them about a secret hidden on Remnant. "Well, that was something." Yang stated simply.

"Agreed, but what did Helia mean by a secret hidden on our planet?" Ruby pondered.

"It must be something really big to be on our planet." Yang guessed.

"Whatever it is, we'll find it and use it for good." Ruby grinned in determination. "We have to before the Decepticons find out about this. The same goes with the Atlas Military."

"That's a very good point." Yang remembered.

_*Vacuo. 20 miles outside Vacuo Grand City. 19:59 pm*_

A new crater has just been created from another meteor crashing down in the desert sands. Out of the crater crawled out a large red robot which the very defining feature of what looked to be a large cannon in the chest as well as a faceplate over it's mouth. "Ka-Blam! I'm here. I will warn you all of what's coming, Bam!" The robot declared.

* * *

**Straxus has been namedropped! This is big! If Straxus has been introduced, something will definitely be happening. Not to mention, we've already met two of his subordinates in the beginning of the chapter: Tsunami and Deadfire. Also, another named Novawing has also been namedropped. I'm sorry there isn't much action in this chapter, but this is another prelude chapter to another multi-parter.**

**Back on Remnant, Ruby and Yang are shown having a conversation mostly regarding Winter and the other Atlesian Military defectors.**

**Speaking of those defectors, they've been working to build their own forces. Winter is more than motivated and determined to make the Autobots, the kids, and their families trust them, especially Jaune.**

**We also take a look back in Atlas and see General Ironwood has become angrier since the Siege of Atlas. However, General Faust reveals to him that she's been working on a few things of her own. The one shown is Darkstar. Not only that, Darkstar seems to be picking up the pieces of Project: Cyber Warrior. Yeah, that pot still hasn't boiled over yet. Finally, General Faust's first name has been revealed: Irene. This however shows General Ironwood's further descent.**

**Meanwhile, back in Vale, Ruby and Yang finally had a dream involving the white void and a Transformer popping up by the name of Helia starting to tell them about a secret hidden on Remnant. What does this mean? Finally, a new Transformer has landed in Vacuo. A very familiar one to many fans.**

**Little factoid: Straxus has never, ever appeared in a Transformers cartoon. He's only appeared in comics. He almost appeared in Transformers Animated, but his scene was cut for time. Yet, his role in the original comics back in the day and in part thanks to Simon Furman, is one of the most iconic and character-defining things ever, at least in my opinion.**

**As usual, if anyone has any ideas for this story, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.**


	18. Wasp

**Hello, bots and cons. Centurion here and at last, welcome back to **_**Dustformers: Season 2**_**. I took a long break from Dustformers in general and I deeply apologize, but I have returned to it. Anyway, in the last chapter, Ruby and Yang meet Helia in their dreams, General Faust tells General Ironwood that Project: Cyber Warrior isn't finished just because Dr. Lucas Clovis went AWOL, Winter, Dr. Clovis and the others have begun working on a new project and working to form a new organization, and Warpath has landed on Remnant. Who knows what will occur from this point forward.**

**Once again, I'd like to thank all my contributors: (OCs/Story Ideas)**

Spartan-100

SnowBranwen

PaperView

Mobian

cryo threshold

D3ADPOOLK1d

invictus113

Optimus912001

Perseus12

Sithlord-666

Lordofuselesness

TomtomtheWriter

Mol2311

Nitro zeus

**These people give me ideas for chapters I work on and for future ideas and for that, I deeply thank them. I hope for their continued support. I have a new contributor: Nitro zeus. Thank you for the newest OC. I promise I will use it in the story.**

**Without further ado, let's jump back into the action!**

* * *

_*Vale. Arc Residence. Jaune's Room. 20:12 pm*_

Jaune was actually feeling bad over what he said to Winter the other day. Suddenly, Weiss walked into his room. She was visiting him to check on him. She was the most concerned about him right now since he spoke to his sister, showing his slight distaste of her. "What are you thinking about?" Weiss asked.

"That I should apologize to Winter about what I said." Jaune answered with his head hung low. "I went a little far."

"Yes, you did. We're all still very worried about you, Jaune." Weiss reminded. "We all know you now have some animosity for my home's military and rightfully so, but my sister was just following orders at the time. Please don't take out your frustrations out on her or the soldiers that followed her anymore. Please."

Jaune saw the almost distraught look on Weiss's face and hugged her and she returned the gesture. "I'm sorry, Weiss. I'm so sorry. I just… I don't know what to do without Bumblebee." Jaune was openly crying at this point to the point of hiccuping a bit. "H-He was my very best friend from another world and he was killed just like that."

Weiss tightened her hug on Jaune. "I know. We all miss him. Take your frustrations out in battle against the Decepticons instead of us from now on."

"I-I can at least try that. I also have to get stronger so that doesn't happen ever again." Jaune gained a look of determination as he softly broke off the hug and walked back to his journal. Weiss sighed softly and walked out of his room.

_*Vale. Vale Forest Outskirts. 21:21 pm*_

A small plume of fire and smoke was just above the treeline. A robot about Bumblebee's size, but with a green and black color scheme crawled out of the newly formed crater. The robot then transformed into a 2000 Suzuki Ignis getting onto a road. "Finally, I've made it to Remnant. Now, to find Bumblebee."

_*Vale. 5 Feet Outside Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen Residence. 21:30 pm*_

Ruby and Hightrail were sitting in the backyard of the house, just staring at the clear night sky. "Which one of these stars do you think is Cybertron?" Ruby asked softly.

"I wouldn't know since I wasn't born on Cybertron, but I really want to see it for the first time." Hightrail admitted. "How are you doing, Ruby?"

"I'm doing okay, Hightrail. Thank you for asking." Ruby sported a small smile. "As always, I'm more worried about Jaune, especially since his last interaction with Winter and the others."

"Ah, I heard about those from Pursuit. He has to move on from Bumblebee's death. He can't let it consume him. If he does, he'll go down a very dark path. Thankfully, we're all there to help him return to who he truly is." Hightrail mused.

Ruby was once again floored by what Hightrail said. "Wow, Hightrail. Very nice and somewhat philosophical for you to say."

"W-Well, I-I try." Hightrail cutely stuttered.

"I wonder if there will be any new Autobots coming to Remnant. We need the advantage seeing as the Decepticons now have the Commandos." Ruby brought up.

"I agree with you there, Rubes." Yang said walking up to the two.

"Hey, Yang." Ruby and Hightrail waved.

"We need more Autobots. The only ones I can think of that are on Remnant right now are the Dinobots." Yang pondered.

"Are you kidding, Yang?!" Hightrail exclaimed. "Those six are out of control! Loose cannons!"

"Well, the ones called Swoop and Slash seem okay. I think it's mostly Grimlock." Ruby put her hand to her chin. "I may not be Cybertronian, but I can tell when one's angry. With Grimlock, anger seems to come off him in waves."

"You sure about that, Rubes?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm actually pretty sure. No other Autobots are that angry. If they do get that angry, it's only either in battle or for a few minutes. Plus, Jaune's been getting angrier and angrier with specific things." Ruby explained.

"True that." Yang sighed. "Maybe the Dinobots can be contacted as a last resort, but they kind of scare me."

"We may not have a choice." Ruby retorted softly.

_*Cybertron. Straxus's Fortress. Unknown Time*_

"Tsunami, Deadfire, how is the project coming along?" Straxus asked walking into view.

"It is proceeding on schedule, Lord Straxus." Deadfire bowed.

"Excellent, you two." Straxus complimented. "On another note, have the Autobots that attacked this fortress been found?"

"They've unfortunately managed to continue eluding us, my lord." Tsunami admitted. "However, Novawing is about to return with his report."

Just after Tsunami said that, a red-orange and black Cybertronian Bomber showed up on the flight deck, transformed to robot mode, and teleported to where the trio was. "Tsunami informed me that you have a report to make." Straxus commented.

"I did manage to find a couple of those damn Autobots near the Sea of Rust." Novawing reported. "This means their base must be nearby."

"If that is the case, we shall send out a small, but powerful attack force to the Sea of Rust. We still need to defend Darkmount." Straxus reminded.

_*Remnant. Vale. Vale City. 9:11 am*_

Jaune was walking down a street when the green and black Autobot was watching him, waiting for him to be more secluded. "Come on, kid."

A little while later, Jaune was walking down an alleyway which was empty. That's when the Autobot made it's move. "Hey, kid. I can tell you've been with other Autobots. I'd rather have you not scream out loud."

"Who are you?" Jaune asked cautiously.

"I'm Wasp. Bumblebee's brother." Wasp introduced himself.

"Bumblebee never told me he had a brother." Jaune was a little wide-eyed after Wasp's introduction. "However, seeing as how you've taken the exact same alternate form, I guess it's true."

"Now, where is Bumblebee?" Wasp just got right to the point.

Jaune paused for a minute before tearing up yet again. This was still a very hard subject for him. "I am so fricking sorry, Wasp. Bumblebee was killed by Megatron months ago."

"What?" Wasp asked quietly. "Oh, Primus..."

"I'm so sorry. I-I tried to save him... It's all my fault..." Jaune suddenly started running back to his home.

"Wait! Kid!" Wasp shouted despite being in vehicle mode. He had to follow Jaune.

_*Vale. Vale City. Arc Residence. 10:01 am*_

By the time Jaune made it back, Wasp was already there waiting for him. "You don't know where I live! How did you get here before me?!"

"I followed you and then sped ahead of you." Wasp answered in a deadpan tone.

Jaune sighed. "Of course you did."

"Now, kid..." Wasp was interrupted by Jaune.

"Jaune. My name is Jaune Arc." Jaune cut off.

"Okay, Jaune. I was going to say that Bumblebee knew he would die someday. Every Autobot's integrated that into their cranial chamber since the war broke out millions of stellar cycles ago." Wasp explained. "Yes, it's a very saddening thing, but you can't let it consume you. Bumblebee would want you to move on and find your happiness, wherever that might be."

Jaune was listening to what Wasp was saying. He know the green and black Autobot was right in every sense, but why was he listening now when his friends were saying practically the same things? "Maybe because this was Bumblebee's brother saying it. "I know what you're saying, Wasp. My friends have been saying the exact same thing."

"Then why is it taking me to get through to you?" Wasp asked.

"Maybe because you're Bumblebee's brother talking to me." Jaune shrugged.

"Fair. Still, I hope you're actually listening to me right now." Wasp stated plainly. "I really hope you are. Now, can you show me where I can find any other Autobots?"

Suddenly, a portal opened up and Ironhide, Wheeljack, and Elita-1 stepped through it. "Look no farther, Wasp." Wheeljack smiled underneath his faceplate.

"Incredible!" Wasp cheered. "How many other Autobots are on this planet?!"

"Come with us and find out." Elita-1 smiled. Wasp transformed into robot mode and walked through the portal with the other three. Seeing the four Autobots happy made Jaune sport a small smile. His friends and Wasp were right. He had to begin moving on from Bumblebee's death and he had to make things right with specific people.

* * *

**Hello, everyone. I hope you all liked this chapter of Dustformers: Season 2. We take yet another visit to Cybertron and see a new member of Straxus's forces: Novawing, the Autobot Wasp has arrived on Remnant and has learned of Bumblebee's death at the hands of Megatron, Weiss and Jaune have a heartfelt moment, and Ruby, Hightrail, and Yang discuss needing more Autobots, contemplating the Dinobots.**

**Yang and Hightrail have every right to be a little skeptical to what Ruby's saying concerning the Dinobots, but do have to admit that her words carry some merit.**

**Jaune meets Wasp and the two have a heartfelt conversation regarding Bumblebee's death and what's it's doing to Jaune, like with Jaune and Weiss earlier in the chapter.**

**As usual, if anyone has any ideas for this story, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me. See you all next time when I begin the next multi-parter. Next chapter, it'll be time to _Wreck 'n' Rule_!**

**I know this chapter doesn't have any action, but some chapters are like that. Rest assured, the next chapter will definitely have some action in it.**

**PS: I'm actually thinking of doing a Beast Era story, complete with OCs partly due to the new IDW Beast Wars comic coming out next year in February which I am super excited for. I haven't written any bit of it yet, but if anyone has any ideas for it (Story plots, ideas, OCs, etc), please let me know in them comments/reviews, or personally PM me.**

**Another thing I am super excited for is the upcoming crossover of X-Men and Transformers. They've already come out with an X-Spanse toy that transforms into the Blackbird. This is a crossover that has soooo much potential.**


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